"Empath" means "self-obsessed woo-accredited fool" ...

[SuziQuatrosFatNan]

... doesn't it?

TwinMum I do the camouflaging and mirroring too. I think of myself as a chameleon. People never seem to mind if you compare yourself unflatteringly with a lizard.

I pick things up about people without being consciously aware that I'm doing it. It's a good way of freaking people out. I wouldn't describe myself as an empath though.

'Attention seeker'.

The few I know who claim to be empaths are anyway.

Empath means.. bloody annoying!

It's draining.

I think anyone who loudly gives themselves a label, eg, "nice guy", "empath", "sensitive", etc, usually isn't what they call themselves.

The ones I've encountered in RL, tend to be nasty, self-absorbed wazzocks with all the subtlety of a brick.

I work in an industry where people would routinely use that word to describe themselves, and they are, to a (wo)man, self-obsessed woo-loving weirdos.

And of course, to clarify for those here who haven't come across the Empath, she (and it's always a she) is a very different person from people (hopefully most of us) who feel empathy.

Oh there are plenty of male empaths too @saraclara. Their amazing empathic abilities usually end up with them thinking they can cure women with their magic wand.

I find these posts really unkind.

Some people struggle to the point of mental illness because their boundaries aren't well developed, they can't protect themselves from the emotions of people around them.
It could be neurodiversity, perhaps autism or a trauma background.

To dismiss it so thoroughly as attention seeking woo is very close minded.

Maybe there's a breed of attention seeker that latches on to 'empath' as a label, but it's the attention seeking that's the issue, not the excessive empathy.

And yes, I have to be really careful what I read and watch. Environments where people bicker make me ill. It's disabling, frankly.

Maybe there's a breed of attention seeker that latches on to 'empath' as a label, but it's the attention seeking that's the issue, not the excessive empathy.
I agree @picklemewalnuts. I used to know someone who would tell me sad stories and then I realised I would carry on feeling upset afterwards but she would be merrily getting on with her day having offloaded on me. I had to make a decision to let stuff like that wash over me.

Sorry meant to bold first part.

Pickle, yes! My mental health suffered because I just couldn't not pick up the emotions of those around me, it's so bloody draining!

I'll live in a cave on my own if it means I don't pick up and take on others emotions and feelings. It's really nothing to do with healing people, it's just something you pick up whilst in their company whether you want it or not.

Maybe there's a breed of attention seeker that latches on to 'empath' as a label, but it's the attention seeking that's the issue, not the excessive empathy.

But those are the people we're talking about. Those that declare themselves. Those who are neuro diverse or have mental health needs that make it hard to deal with others' emotions don't go around telling everyone that they're empaths and embellishing it with woo and how it makes them so wonderful.

I think there's a general theme about people who feel the need to go around describing themselves as if it's of interest to others.

I used to work with someone who would regularly open conversations with statements like 'Now, as you know I am highly self-aware' but unfortunately for her she was not at all aware of being much disliked due to her rampant cuntiness.

They are the ultimate experts at making something all about themselves.

@EscapeDragon
Spot on.

So say that, Betty! Rather than just slating empaths.

I have fibromyalgia now, and have been looking back trying to unpick where I went wrong. I think I'm just really tightly wired, easily overwhelmed by smells, sounds, emotions... unable to distance myself.

In an ideal world we'd identify these kids and teach them skills to manage themselves rather than calling them 'over sensitive, snowflakes, touchy' and all the other insults for kids that struggle with the world!

I spent as much time as I could reading behind the sofa- I wish I'd never had to come out! it's brutal out here!

No. And that is speaking as a neurodiverse person who is empathic and my oldest who similarly has it. Sometimes it can be crippling when around people. And also around people who are overly sensitive but have NO empathy for others - I've been stung by 'sensitive' types more than once.
It is a bit weird for me in that I am empathic but not particularly sensitive to others, particularly social cues and hierarchies- most people it is the other way round. And it totally sucks when it appears that empathy only seems to flow in one direction and that is usually away from me.
It's probably why I don't have that many friends.

@roguetomato

Why? I think empath is the person who understands and feels other's feeling and emotions better than normal people.

The word means something a bit like that but the "I am an empath" people are most definoyely exactly how OP describes them. More, they are often the least empathetic people you are likely to meet.

There is so much fake psych available on t'internet these days that it is all too easy to read about "sensitive souls for whom the world is just full of anxieties, liars, fakes who just drain you" and decide that this is why you are failing to thrive, feel lonely, overeat to compensate, etc.

It's a bit like the MLM of emotions - but free!!

OP, it definitely does.

It's as annoying as when people tell you what their Myers Briggs type is.

Literally nobody cares that much about other people.

It's a shame Empath is associated with empathy tbh.

Personally, I hate being an empath. Just because I feel others emotions easily and pick it all up and take it all on, doesn't mean I want to. I actually just want to walk the opposite direction.

There's a difference in automatically picking up and feeling the emotions of others than actually wanting to be picking up and feeling the emotions of others. I personally don't because it's so draining.

Just because you feel it automatically doesn't mean you can't choose to walk in the other direction.

Oh, the Myers-I-Have-a bridge-to-sell-you- Briggs Questionnaire

I once proved to a room full of MB believers that it was all rubbish by showing them alternatives tests, like the Personality Drawing Test, where you draw a pig. It's a joke, a long standing one at that.

To my absolute horror some have taken it on and it appears alongside other personality profiling Qs.

Here is the 'test' if you want to try it out:

adminfinance.umw.edu/tess/files/2018/02/PIG-Personality-Profile.pdf

It's a shame Empath is associated with empathy tbh. How could it not be?

[quote CuriousaboutSamphire]Oh, the Myers-I-Have-a bridge-to-sell-you- Briggs Questionnaire

I once proved to a room full of MB believers that it was all rubbish by showing them alternatives tests, like the Personality Drawing Test, where you draw a pig. It's a joke, a long standing one at that.

To my absolute horror some have taken it on and it appears alongside other personality profiling Qs.

Here is the 'test' if you want to try it out:

adminfinance.umw.edu/tess/files/2018/02/PIG-Personality-Profile.pdf[/quote]
Ha Ds will like this will give it a go