Nice Thread! S+F'ed for you!

Lots of very interesting reading.

=)Namaste

Erik

I am an empath as well... one problem though. I am hyperactive by nature and my energy level is as tied, if not more so, to my emotions than it is to either sleep or food.

I work in a grocery store. Most days are great, but sometimes I go all emo. How can one tell if it is because of their emotions or because of others?

Any advice would be welcome.

Aloha.

I'm gonna do a little rebuttal to the description, so don't mistake me as a troll. I'm out to narrow down what constitutes empathy and hypersensitivity. One thing to point out is where and how one feels these emotions. There is a difference made when it is separated between body and soul. Some emotions are felt through the body while others are felt through the soul. Ok, so let me jump into... I may have to many several posts to get this done.

Empathy is the ability to read and understand people and be in-tune with or resonate with others, voluntarily or involuntarily of one's empath capacity.

This is a little too broad, yet it still is an effective description to start. The first line actually describes sympathy, and that is often what is mistaken as empathy, or vice versa. To rewrite that: Empathy is the ability to feel emotions of people and be in-tune with or resonate with others, voluntarily or involuntarily of one's empath capacity. The emotions are not always understood, sometimes mistaken as ones own emotions. The more sensitive empath is able to delineate them. The empath does not read someone's mind, yet instead a given set of emotions felt may be enough to conclude another's thought.

Empaths have the ability to scan another's psyche for thoughts and feelings or for past, present, and future life occurrences. Many empaths are unaware of how this actually works, and have long accepted that they were sensitive to others.

Empaths are usually mistaken as someone that psychoanalysis another. The empath may have zero intention to psychoanalyze someone, yet the nature to feel and react to emotions is enough for an empath to be accused of such unintentional psychoanalysis.

Many empath are also not awakened to an infinite reality, so the knowledge of where and how they feel what they feel is not fully understood. In the infinite reality, the essence of time is less meaningful, as the existence of life is not based on time.

Empaths Sense Deep Emotions
Empathy is a feeling of another's true emotions to a point where an empath can relate to that person by sensing true feelings that run deeper than those portrayed on the surface. People commonly put on a show of expression. This is a learned trait of hiding authentic expression in an increasingly demanding society.

The quote above demonstrates where people feel psychoanalyzed. People naturally defend themselves, and when an empath breaks down those defenses then the person may lash out in reaction. A decent empath learns not to force help or mention what one feels, as what is private should remain private.

An empath can sense the truth behind the cover and will act compassionately to help that person express him/herself, thus making them feel at ease and not so desperately alone.

This quote above shows how empaths get enslaved as sympathizers. Just because one has an ability to do something should not obligate that person to do something. I'm sure this point is easy misunderstood, so it is left like this for further debate.

Empaths experience empathy towards family, children, friends, close associates, complete strangers, pets, plants and inanimate objects. Empathy is not held by time or space. Thus, an empath can feel the emotions of people and things at a distance. Some are empathic towards animals (ie: The Horse Whisperer), to nature, to the planetary system, to mechanical devices or to buildings etc. Others will have a combination of the above.

Powerful empaths can feel who is awakened, who is possessed (said broadly), who is alive, the spirits, the planetary balance, the galaxy, the universe, life on other planets, etc. Powerful empaths are not anti-social (yet often mistaken), as they often have to deal with the emotions and distractions that span much greater than this Earth. Powerful empaths make good shamans, while other empaths may want to study Reiki to help channel.

Empaths Have Deep Sense of Knowing
Empaths are highly sensitive. This is the term commonly used in describing one's abilities (sensitivity) to another's emotions and feelings. Empaths have a deep sense of knowing that accompanies empathy and are often compassionate, considerate, and understanding of others.

The above is more egotistical than an empathic ability. An empath that is familiar with several concurrent emotions may know what they mean what they happen together, yet that does not mean every empath knows it the same. The ability to feel may seem intrinsic, yet the ability to know what one feels requires study.

There are also varying levels of strength in empaths which may be related to the individualís awareness of self, understanding of the powers of empathy, and/or the acceptance or non-acceptance of empathy by those associated with them, including family and peers. Generally, those who are empathic grow up with these tendencies and do not learn about them until later in life.

Generally, people do not understand empathy. They either associate it with sympathy or being just overly sensitive to any situation. They don't understand what it means to be hypersensitive. They don't understand how it feels to separate the emotions the body feels and the emotions the soul feels. Being hyper-stimulated is also often confused with hyper-sensitivity.

Powerful empaths don't "awaken" to their abilities, as it is something they always have, and it is part of what awakens them in each body.

Empathy is Inherited
Empathy is genetic, inherent in our DNA, and passed from generation to generation. It is studied both by traditional science and alternative healing practitioners.

Empathy has both biological/genetic and spiritual aspects.

The body has empathic abilities, yet that is not the same as the empathic abilities the soul has. Science is not able to reach into the soul and make any distinctions. Powerful empaths relate much of what they feel to the soul (and beyond) and not just what their bodies feel.

Empaths often possess the ability to sense others on many different levels. From their position in observing what another is saying, feeling and thinking, they come to understand another. They can become very proficient at reading another personís body language and/or study intently the eye movements. While this in itself is not empathy, it is a side-shoot that comes from being observant of others. In a sense, empaths have a complete communication package.

That is the body's empathic ability to read body language beyond normal para-communication levels.

How Empathy Works
While there is much we don't yet understand about how empathy works, we do have some information. Everything has an energetic vibration or frequency and an empath is able to sense these vibrations and recognize even the subtlest changes undetectable to the naked eye or the five senses.

Empathy is not to be mistaken with ESP.

Words of expression hold an energetic pattern that originates from the speaker. They have a specific meaning particular to the speaker. Behind that expression is a power or force-field, better known as energy. For example, hate often brings about an intense feeling that immediately accompanies the word. The word hate becomes strengthened with the speaker's feeling. It is that person's feelings (energy) that are picked up by empaths, whether the words are spoken, thought or just felt without verbal or bodily expression.

One oversimplified way to describe empathy is like an ear that can hear a high-dynamic range of tones -- much higher than a normal human ear.

Empaths are often poets in motion.
[...]

Empaths Are Good Listeners
[...]

Everybody has their own personality, and being an empath doesn't mean one fits a certain personality type. As much as the sections above describe and may be true, it doesn't mean all empaths fit those descriptions. It is coincidence, merely.

One may want to find the differences of auditory, visual, and kinetic personality types rather than rely on the descriptions given above.

They are most often passionate towards nature and respect its bountiful beauty. One will often find empaths enjoying the outdoors, beaches, walking, etc. Empaths may find themselves continually drawn to nature as a form of release. It is the opportune place to recapture their senses and gain a sense of peace in the hectic lives they may live. The time to get away from it all and unwind with nature becomes essential to the empath. Animals are often dear to the heart of empaths, not as a power object, but as a natural love. It is not uncommon for empaths to have more than one pet in their homes.

The above quote contradicts itself. The true empath only has pets if the pets wants to be with the empath. The empath would not be able to force a pet to be separated from their natural family. The emotions felt from such separation are too strong.

Natural areas may help the body and soul focus easily, yet they are not mandatory. Being grounded on Earth somehow is usually mandatory for the empath to find balance. Smells and other essence are beneficial, yet not mandatory. Use of herbs and certain diets are beneficial to help focus or to help tune out emotions.

Traits of an Empath
[...]

Those traits relate more to one's own personality rather than being an empath. While it may be true that being empathetical does play a great role to shape one's personality, there still is no one-to-one relationship of a personality type to known set of personalities to pick out who is and who is not an empathic person.

Much more could be written, yet I hope this much helps.

Hi, back on page 13 you mentioned that no-one had actually responded directly to your points so I thought I'd give it a go. (Maybe someone else has already answered but I haven't read the pages from page 13).

Originally posted by andrewh7

Originally posted by paxnatus

Originally posted by andrewh7
I think we need to come up with a definitive label for these kinds of threads because they are posted over and over again. Allow me to summarize:

1. OP appeals to outsider, social phobics by dropping personality traits that would describe the vast majority of this population, or, quite possibly almost everyone on earth.

I can sometimes be a social phobic but it depends on the company I'm with because sometimes people can just be too much like hard work. I'm aware that my time, is actually MY time and I can't always be bothered if I feel like I'm going to be wasting it. I'm sure everyone feels like that from time to time so not sure it makes anyone a social phobic. I can be anti-social at times and I do often prefer my own company.

As the majority of the population do have the ability to feel their emotions then yes, you are correct that it could apply to almost everyone on earth, at various times of their lives. However, what empaths feel can be overwhelming emotions all of the time rather than just because a particular something has triggered a lot of emotion.

2. Rather than flaws, OP insists they are merely objective symptoms of a thread reader's special and rare gift or status, e.g., having latent superpowers or being an alien.

Flaws - hah, I have plenty but then so does every other human being I've met. I don't claim to be special, have a rare gift, status, superpowers or to be an alien. Maybe I am one of those things or all of them - I like to keep an open mind as to who and what I am because I don't know for sure.

3. Based solely on the satisfaction of the OP's own test or symptom checklist, thread reader enthusiastically claims to be a member of this rare class of persons.

I don't claim to be a member of any rare class of persons. I don't like to be put in a box or labeled as I believe we're all unique and all special and some of us have flairs for different things. It would be an extremely boring world if we all had the same level of intelligence, bodily strenght, IQ, emotions, etc, etc.

4. Thread reader eagerly describes personal anecdotes or behavioral tendencies that are consistent with the OP's checklist.

Why shouldn't thread readers that can understand, sympathise and yes, empathise with the OP add their own personal ancedotes or behavioural tendencies? Isn't that the whole purporse of the OP's thread - to find others that maybe think and feel the same way and can share experiences. I don't understand what you're getting at here? If someone doesn't understand what the OP is talking about then they are free to visit another thread and leave others that do understand to comment. I'm sorry but I just don't understand why you would even bother to comment if you think the OP is a load of tosh? There's many threads I don't comment in because the discussion doesn't interest or concern me so I leave them to it.

5. Thread readers states, "I knew I was different from most people but until your thread came along, I just couldn't figure out how. It's good to know that I'm not alone."

No, I don't think I'm different to most people in the sense you mean. Yes, I am different from you and every other individual on planet earth - again, it would be very boring if we were all the same physically, mentally, emotionally, etc, etc. However, it is fantastic to find others that do think and feel along similar lines as me and to be able to talk to those people and know they might understand me more than some other people do. Do people that like football tend to hang out with others that love football when they want to discuss football? Do people that love discussing UFOs not hang out in UFO threads to discuss it with like minded individuals? It would pretty silly to try to discuss football with someone that isn't interested in football.

I've run out of space so will continue my reply in my next post.

Edit to change my response from the colour purple, which didn't work, to bold. I'm not using bold to emphasis my replies, just so they're easier to read. I hope it works better than trying to reply in colour! No doubt there are many people here that are more technically minded than me - I don't claim to be super human and have extraordinary abilities that enable me to be better than everyone else, in every respect. I'm just a more feeling type person than a lot of people I know

[edit on 16-8-2009 by Maya00a]

Great thread Jackie!
Wouldn't it be nice if everyone had to experience the level of empathy that we do? There could be more understanding instead of ridicule. And can you imagine what it would be like to go a day or two in their shoes? Just breezing into a coffee shop and out without the bombardment of everyones feelings and emotions? I can get close using strong shielding, but some still gets through me.

Anyway, I have found that it's is getting fairly intense these days. I've gone through it since I can remember. As a little girl, it consumed me day and night. Riding on the schoolbus and hearing all the insults shot at the 'unpoplular' kids. I always tried to intervene, but was such a little waif, I got nowhere. And animals... may as well just shoot me. I feel as though I am inside their heads, feeling the feelings they are. I've tried volunteering at local animal shelters, but the emotional torture pushes me back. And trees, yep, those to.

Always thought there was something wrong with me. Now I know there is ... LOL! At least we know we aren't alone. The world would be a much kinder place if all felt the way we feel.

I live in a place where there's a lot of negativity and that's a problem... i just realised the other day why i was feeling like i was lately... too many opressed souls here... the thing is they have the freedom but they don't want it so it causes a lot of negative rays where i live... i've learnt to build up a shield against this but there are a lot of them and i hope they just move on..... soon!!!! I also think there has been a lot of dark clouds over the UK of late... you may think this sounds bonkers but i've never seen so many cloudy days over here....




[edit on 17-9-2009 by TruthxIsxInxThexMist]