Psychologists view empaths as individuals with heightened sensitivity, absorbing others' emotions deeply, often linked to a more active mirror neuron system, leading to profound connection but also risks of burnout, emotional exhaustion, and vulnerability to manipulators like narcissists. While not a clinical diagnosis, being an empath involves taking on others' feelings as if they were one's own, necessitating strong boundaries and self-care to manage intense sensory input and emotional overload.
Some psychologists say there are different types of empaths as well, such as: Emotional empath. This means you're very sensitive to other people's emotions. If someone you know is happy or angry, you may have those feelings as well.
Empaths, in particular, are thought to exhibit a heightened activity in the mirror-neuron system compared to the general population. For empaths, this heightened mirror-neuron activity suggests a more robust and responsive capacity to understand and resonate with the emotional experiences of others.
Jung saw excessive empathy as both a gift and a hidden danger leading to self-loss. Highly sensitive people may absorb not just emotions but also others' unconscious “shadows.” Empaths are often unconsciously driven by unresolved childhood wounds.
There's no scientific evidence that empaths are real. However, if you're a highly sensitive person or feel you may easily tune into other people's emotions, you may identify with the term.
In addition to their heightened empathy, empaths possess keen intuition, are caring, and highly sensitive to their environment. Some fields where empaths often shine are healthcare, the arts, business, and helping careers like librarian, psychologist, or social worker.
However, the findings regarding cognitive empathy were quite different. Cognitive empathy involves the intellectual ability to understand and identify what another person is thinking or feeling. The researchers found that highly intelligent individuals often excel in this area.
Childhood neglect or abuse can affect your sensitivity levels as an adult. A portion of empaths I've treated have experienced early trauma such as emotional or physical abuse, or they were raised by alcoholic, depressed, or narcissistic parents.
Empaths are highly sensitive to the energy around them, which can make daily life feel exhausting. During the day, when the world is loud, busy, and emotionally charged, they absorb so much — moods, tension, unspoken emotions — even in passing.
Awareness — Be aware of what your spouse is feeling and what's behind that feeling. Agenda — Set aside your own agenda and focus on the needs of your spouse. Action — Take action on meeting the needs of your spouse.
Jobs to Avoid If You're an Empath
One of the best ways to take care of your energy is to choose work that enhances your unique empathic gifts and avoid draining jobs. What jobs are best to avoid? Sales is high on that list. Not many empaths enjoy being salespeople, especially if they're introverted.
Empaths have highly sensitive nervous systems and so a sudden rush of anger can feel overwhelming, disorienting, and even make us feel physically ill. We may experience dizziness or shortness of breath or vision problems, such as “seeing spots” or experiencing blurred vision.
1. Emotional overwhelm: Constantly feeling others' emotions can be exhausting and lead to emotional overload and stress. 2. Difficulty setting boundaries: Empaths who struggle to say no can experience burnout and self-neglect.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is one of the most effective evidence-based approaches for managing the emotional challenges that come along with the gift of being an empath. CBT works by identifying and restructuring unhelpful thought patterns that can intensify emotional stress.
All in all, INFPs truly are natural empaths. They are attentive, kind, and considerate, which helps them see the world from many different viewpoints. Though they may grow and evolve they will likely always use their talents to improve the lives of their friends, family, and the greater community.
An empath is a person with the ability to understand the experiences and feelings of others outside of their own perspective, as well as apprehend the mental or emotional state of another individual. They sense and feel emotions as if it is part of their own experience.
The empath's biggest fear is being in your power because then you'll be alone. Let's break this down. As a child you being in your power and having insights that noone could mirror felt very lonely. Instead of feeling like you don't belong or you can't be mirrored you either denied that in yourself or you fought it.
Empaths are natural healers and tend to attract narcissists who need to drain others of their energy in order to survive and maintain their facade.
When empaths are exposed to early trauma or abuse their young nervous system may develop without healing making them hypervigilant. They can become exquisitely attuned to their environment to ward off threats and ensure they are safe or enter a state of hyperarousal.
Then, you have those who are highly empathetic, or empaths, on the other end of the spectrum. Research has shown that as little as 1 to 2% of the world's population would be considered empaths. People who are truly empaths make up a small part of the global population.
Emotional Manipulation: As the relationship progresses, the narcissist's true nature begins to emerge. They start to manipulate the empath emotionally. This manipulation often takes the form of gaslighting, where the narcissist tries to make the empath doubt their own perceptions, emotions, and reality.
Empaths often have a sixth sense, or intuition, that allows them to sense things before they happen. This ability goes beyond just having a 'gut feeling' about something. It's almost as if they can tune into the frequency of the universe and pick up on subtle signals and cues that others might miss.
So that's why a super empath is actually way more powerful than a narcissist. I've said this over and over again, that you are actually the way more powerful one and they know it. They know it; that's why they're trying to constantly control you. They're looking for ways to artificially control you.
Most empaths draw people to them naturally and have no trouble making friends. This is because empaths are excellent listeners and function as a safe space for others. However, empaths usually feel lonely in crowds, and in relationships.