You may want to over help or fix people, believing that if you don't intervene something terrible will happen—a habit you might have learned from living with an alcoholic or anxious parent. Empaths can have codependent tendencies but not all codependents are empaths.
Codependent empaths have the dual problems of weak boundaries and disconnection from themselves, while being highly sensitive to other people. They're vulnerable to abuse for several reasons: They seek love and intimacy, but shame makes it difficult to receive.
Empathy is different from codependency in that we have a solid sense of self. With empathy, we understand that people's emotional state and behavior is not something to take personally, change, or fix. How people respond to us is not an indication of who we are.
An empath is a particularly sensitive person, someone who is able to feel and experience exactly what others do. While empaths can make wonderful caring friends, in a romantic relationship they can often find it difficult because they tend to quickly become very intense.
Intellectuals can make good partners for certain empaths because their sense of logic compliments and grounds an empath's emotional intensity. Ask for help. Intellectuals love to solve problems. Be very specific about ways they can assist you with a problem or task.
Personality types ENFP, ENFJ, INFJ, and INFPs are natural empaths per the MBTI Personality types. Empaths are also called Idealists & Diplomats. Highly Sensitive People belong to these MBTI types.
Empaths need to be around people who accept their beautifully in-tune nature instead of trying to change them. Those people see how giving, open, and caring empaths are. They recognize that empaths can be amazing friends, partners, and confidants, and they don't take that for granted.
Fearing intimacy and getting closer.
Some empaths may avoid dating or romantic commitment because they fear being overwhelmed by a partner's energies and emotions. Many empaths like to have plenty of space—energetic, emotional, and physical.
"But unfortunately empaths are attracted to narcissists, because at first this is about a false self. Narcissists present a false self, where they can seem charming and intelligent, and even giving, until you don't do things their way, and then they get cold, withholding and punishing."
Energetically sensitive people unknowingly avoid romantic partnerships because deep down they're afraid of getting engulfed. For emotional empaths to be at ease in a relationship, asserting their need for personal space is key.
Both an empath and narcissist are very sensitive individuals but in different ways. Empaths may internalize what other people are going through, blaming themselves for being unable to make others feel better. And on the other hand, narcissists tend to intensely dislike criticism or feelings of inadequacy.
Empaths are emotionally intelligent individuals, so they can often understand and connect with their partners in a deep and meaningful way. They are also typically very supportive and understanding, which can make them great partners in times of need.
Empathy can be taxing sometimes because it drains you to feel other person's emotions. But if they have the capability to do that, and make it all about themselves instead of genuinely sympathising with the person who is actually hurting, they are empathetic narcissist.
"A challenge of being an empath is to practice boundaries between the physical and emotional experiences of others and yourself," Villegas says. "It can be easy for empaths to take on, and even physically experience, someone else's discomfort or exuberance."
Empaths love with an incredible passion.
They will sense the moods of their partner and will know how to handle them. Despite how deeply they love, it won't be suffocating. They will know when to pull back and give less to their partner when they sense (from their partner) that they need to.
Empathetic Reactivity – When too much empathy is bad
Unbridled empathy can lead to concentrations of the stress hormone cortisol, making it difficult to release the emotions. Taking on other people's feelings so that you live their experience can make you susceptible to feelings of depression or hopelessness.
Watching violent news; being around sarcastic, critical, or narcissistic people; or spending days at an amusement park are not things empaths enjoy. To feel their best, empaths need to minimize or avoid situations like this unless they want to end up feeling exhausted, drained, used, or anxious.
Empaths with their strong need for connection, weak boundaries, and compromised internal strength make perfect targets for a narcissist. To get the upper hand, the narcissist only has to emotionally bombard the Empath to coerce them into cooperating with their demands.
Over time, empaths can become programmed to avoid external stimulation or need very little of it to feel happy. Whether or not a person is introverted, some common side effects of hyper-sensitivity can include exhaustion, overload, depression, and anxiety.
Empaths generally have trust issues, as a result of trauma they have experienced in the past. Empaths often attract toxic, and painful relationships. Some empaths, make it their life long mission to stay single, because of their past trauma.
Most Empaths are emotionally unavailable, despite being sensitive, intuitive, highly emotional, empathetic, and caring. This emotional unavailability is expressed differently than say, a Narcissist's unavailability. Let's say an Empath's emotional unavailability is expressed in a more covert fashion.
Physical touch
Empaths desire physical attention from their partners and it would likely be one of the love languages they need most.
The empath concept is controversial. Opinion is divided on whether empaths actually exist. There is also debate around some abilities associated with empaths. For instance, empaths are thought to have special skills in reading others, detecting lying, and healing.
They absorb the emotions of those around them and often feel overwhelmed by large crowds or loud noises. For empaths, it is important to avoid caffeine and other stimulants. Caffeine heightens the senses and can make empaths even more sensitive to the energy around them.
Empaths absorb others' energy to the point where they feel like an 'emotional sponge'. They do not have the filters most people do, and they seem to feel other people's stress and feelings in their own bodies.