Discussion How pleased are you with your level of empathy? Poll

[Forever Sleep]

I suspect either too much or, too little empathy can get us into trouble. Where do you feel you sit?

I think when I was younger, I had a lot more empathy. Although, maybe sympathy would be a better word. I think I actively tried to encourage my empathy by imagining how difficult it must be for others so- that's another question I suppose. How much is innate and how much do we learn or try to develop?

Now though, my empathy levels seem to vary, according to what mood I'm in. Sometimes I think we can become over saturated so- we just don't have the same space to care about others. Maybe it's not that we stop caring though. Maybe we just try to remove ourself from situations in which we are expected to care. We may feel we need to stop watching the news for example.

What's your experience though? I know we have some highly sensitive empaths here who feel the weight of all the world's problems. There again, there are also people who feel lesa able to feel anything now. Has your life changed your experience and approach to it? Was it a conscious decision to try to become less or more empathetic. What level do you suppose you had genetically? If you believe it is inherited as well as taught.

I think I was born to be nicer than I am!

 

[Pluto]

 

[MissAbyss]

It feels like a curse..

 

[jimmyinnout]

I am entirely normal in terms of empathy. Entirely. So it does not change anything.

I would be considered low empathy by most, but that is because I absolutely refuse to pretend I care about issues that I really dont. I also do not like people who make a massive display of being empathetic. Such people are living reminders that hitler was a vegan.

 

[LighthouseHermit]

No matter how good your empathy is, it's nothing compared to animals.



If it weren't for my brothers (my 2 dogs), I would be long gone. With one look they can tell you more than any person ever could.

Every dog I've had has showed me love that I didn't know was possible. They are forever in my heart, and if I have one wish after I pass, it's to see them one more time

 

[MissAbyss]

No matter how good your empathy is, it's nothing compared to animals.

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If it weren't for my brothers (my 2 dogs), I would be long gone. With one look they can tell you more than any person ever could.

Every dog I've had has showed me love that I didn't know was possible. They are forever in my heart, and if I have one wish after I pass, it's to see them one more time

This breaks me!
The same goes for my little girl
I would have been gone already.
And my little man who's already up there, somewhere. Hopefully, one day we'll be back together. That's my only wish, the pack back together.

 

[Manaaja]

My empathy has never helped anyone. Yeah, they might feel heard, loved, respected, understood, better for a moment, but next day it's the same old shit. And of course you can't feel empathic without feeling the pain of unfairness, so it hurts you. So you are hurt and that other person's life didn't get any better. You both lose. Empathy is just a snake oil.

 

[whiskeyblanket]

Empathy does not come natural to me, but I have figured out how to leverage it to optimally perform my job at a high level. That being said, performing empathy is quite draining.

 

[cemeteryismyhome]

I have way too much. It causes me to blow a fuse so to speak and act exactly as if I had no empathy at all, because it's too overwhelming.