Anyone else feel overly empathetic?

[Raggas]

Like the whole pain of the world is on your shoulders.

 

[lost_soul83]

Like the whole pain of the world is on your shoulders.

Yes definitely. I consider myself to be an empath. I feel others' emotions very intensely and the negative emotions hurt me a great deal. This is one of my reasons for wanting to ctb. I just can't take the pain anymore. I started a thread like this not too long ago and one user suggested that I could simply "choose not to" feel all these negative emotions. I tried to explain to him that true empaths cannot simply "turn it off," but he didn't seem to get it. Know what I mean? So I can definitely empathize with what you're feeling.

 

[TheNorthernSilence]

I do and it's useless because in the end I can't even save myself.

 

[Kuris]

Yes and I tend to bottle those feelings inside. I'm not sure if I'm an empath but some of the things I read about it seems to fit. I hate being around people that are sad because I have to bite my lip just to not cry or sound like I'm about to and I hate it. Sometimes when in the grocery store I may see an employee or other people there that are feeling anxious or stressed and then I just start to blush or feel really anxious about being there. I wish I would feel happy around happy people but it doesn't seem to work that way.

 

[ZomGuy]

Yes I do. However, I also feel overly pathetic because I'm too useless to be of help to someone. This makes me really sad because being able to really help someone I care about would give some sort of purpose to exist. And I've learned the hard way that my empathy is basically as useless as I am.

 

[Angst Filled Fuck Up]

I'm kind of an oddity in that I have sort of a gruff exterior and often feel short tempered and annoyed with people, but underneath it I have a pretty big heart towards humanity in general. Sometimes I stop and think about how much collective suffering there is in the world at any given moment. It's sort of humbling and helps me feel less alone.

 

[AngelGirl]

I am overly empathetic, and it is debilitating. I also have social anxiety and avoidant personality disorder, I don't know if that's relevant. I am very prone to PTSD and listening to stories about other people's traumatic experiences can really exacerbate my mental health and I will fail to carry out day to day activities as if I have had an traumatic event myself. It will last for quite some time. So... I just try to avoid everything all together.

 

[ZixivaldYrxes]

I used to be. I feel next to nothing now though.

 

[ShadowOfTheDay]

Like the whole pain of the world is on your shoulders.

I don't think it's possible to be "overly empathetic."

There are many problems in this world.

Empathy-overload is not one of them.

 

[Taylor]

I am overly empathetic, and it is debilitating. I also have social anxiety and avoidant personality disorder, I don't know if that's relevant. I am very prone to PTSD and listening to stories about other people's traumatic experiences can really exacerbate my mental health and I will fail to carry out day to day activities as if I have had an traumatic event myself. It will last for quite some time. So... I just try to avoid everything all together.

You sound just like me. This is why I don't tell people about my social fears and awarenesses that have completely ruined my life, because the last thing I'd want is for it to affect them the same way it did me, and ruin their life too. I'd rather sacrifice myself so others can continue living happy, and unbothered lives, the way I used to.

 

[pole]

Being an empath has drained me mentally, when im shouldering the pain of others when they vent to me about there problems. But i voluntarily force them and choose for them to talk to me about it, cause knowing their hurt and bothered is what hurts me and just ruins my days where i cant stop thinking about it, even if im not directly affected by their matters, it still emotionally affects me.

But its also helped me, even when im extremely depressed, just the feeling of escaping out of your own thoughts you arent able to solve and just your inability to help yourself, and turning your focus to helping another person, guiding another person and helping them like the way you wanna be helped, and then SOLVING their problems and also seeing them get better makes me feel 100000000x better; literally makes my day so much better seeing them happier after helping them out of their darkness and watching them grow and get better.

 

[JadedGray]

I wouldn't say I'm overly empathetic although I was when I was a kid, but I'm burnt out from it now. I feel I'm selective when it comes to who I feel empathetic towards. I tend to feel sympathetic towards the people that almost nobody would. When I do feel sympathetic towards someone it goes above and beyond what would be seen as "normal" to the point that it affects me.

 

[AngelGirl]

I was talking to my psychiatrist friend kind of about this topic. Told him I think I'm overly empathetic and he told me the term empath. That was my first time hearing about this term. Being an empath basically means that you are overly empathetic and very sensitive, kind of the opposite to sociopath.
If you've never heard of this term, probably should look it up.

 

[Severen]

No. My parents tried hard to make me someone who doesn't give a shit about anyone or anything.

 

[Final Escape]

Like the whole pain of the world is on your shoulders.

At one time, but now my heart is frozen solid lol!