Apr 13 2009
What is an Empath
You go out to run a few simple errands and are overwhelmed by anxiety. You try to study at the library and find waves of anger washing over you. You go out to eat and feel uncontrollable sadness for no reason. Is something wrong with you?
Perhaps. More likely you’re an Empath.
Psychic Week on Your Dark Passenger continues with a look at those with empathic abilities.
Though I put Empaths in the category of intuitives, there is more to those with empathic abilities than simply being able to sense how people are feeling. An Empath takes that ability further and actually feels the feelings of others. Examples of empathic abilities include:
- Understanding the feelings or level of health of animals
- Feeling when a plant needs watering or feeding
- Feeling the emotions (or the leftover emotional energy) of spirits
- Sensing illness in others
- Feeling emotional pain when watching the news or a movie
- Complete strangers will often be drawn to the Empath and begin to confide things in them they wouldn’t normally tell anyone.
- Friends and co-workers will often seek them out for advice
Negative Aspects of Being an Empath
As with most abilities, there is a downside. Many Empaths (especially those who are unaware they possess this particular psychic or paranormal gift) become overwhelmed in crowds of people. It can certainly be argued that lots of people are uncomfortable in crowds, but an Empath may find they are being assaulted by the emotional energy of everyone around them. Keep in mind that most people are completely unaware of the “vibes” they put off so their affect on the Empath is unintentional.
Another common problem among Empaths is not knowing if emotions being felt actually belong to them or if they’re experiencing someone else’s feelings. I have to say, this is a particularly troubling and annoying side-effect of the gift. It is no picnic to be furious and have no idea why.
This actually happened to me after a brief encounter with the rudest ticket agent I’ve ever encountered at an airport recently. It wasn’t until my husband asked me what was wrong that I even realized what’d happened.
Positive Aspects of Being an Empath
I should preface this by saying that if an individual has no desire to help others and only wants to be left alone then they will probably find little to no benefit in their empathic abilities…
For a natural born counselor, empathic abilities are a true gift. Providing sound advice to an individual is one thing, but to know the depth of their emotional state can go a long way towards helping them reach the root of their problems as opposed to just the surface issues.
Other Empaths are able to use their ability to detect when they’re being lied to or otherwise deceived. This can provide them an edge when determining who they can trust or what situations will be dangerous. A major difference exists between being able to guess at a person’s character and knowing their quality of character.
By this point, you may be picking up on the overlap between Empaths, Clairsentients and those with the spiritual gift of discernment. I’ll cover this in a future post, but I’d like to know your thoughts on Empaths in the meantime.
Jen
“Let your dark passenger come out to play…Be your own nemesis!”
Nice article I always wondered what empath meant, I know the word empathy from my social work degree. So it makes sense.
I always appreciate it when word meanings actually make a little sense.
Great post. A psychic that I know–and an empath–helped me to discover that I am probably an empath as well. Because I have always been this way–moody, emotional, anxious—I never considered that there was an explanation other than personality flaws for these emotions. I always thought that I was just weak and “wishy-washy.” Now, it makes TOTAL sense.
Thank you so much for all of your help, I discovered this sight while doing research for what I hope will be a novel someday….When I began this it seemed almost overwhelming….frankly I was beginning to think I was crazy, not only for desiding to write a story based on the inward and outward conflicts of being an Empath….but also I felt as if I was crazy because I have always realized that I was gifted with an Empathic ability….though I was affraid to tell anyone about my suspision, After reading the above article i have finally realized that I am not nuts…LOL and I found a wealth of usful information to aid me in the undertaking of writing this story…Thank you agian….now I know I am not alone
Hey Mandi.
You definitely aren’t alone. I’ve been there…feeling totally nuts because I didn’t know what was going on. I think that’s a pretty common feeling among Empaths before we know we’re Empaths.
I’m glad I was able to help you and good luck with your novel.
Jen