You know I wish it would be made common pratice to teach everyone how to maintain their own emotions. Keep them to themselves.

One day wouldn't it be a hoot to have a lawsuit against someone for there emittance of emotions causing undue agaony in our lives!

I can see it now, sitting in a courtroom, trying to convince them that all your pain and suffering actually isn't yours but all them folks out there who just emote left and right!!!

Have you seen the movie, cubic Novia. People take drugs to supress their emotions, f they dont take the drug, they are put in prison.

Luckily we dont live there.

Thank you Naturallmyne for the good advice! I will sure give it a try!  

Wow. After reading everyone's posts, that's all I can say is wow. I too have the empath going on, though not to the degree of some people here. There are times when I know what someone is going to say before they say it. I cannot handle being in the mall, or walmart when it's crowded. I go into emotional overload with having no idea why. I can be perfectly fine when I get there and within minutes, I feel like I have run the entire gauntlet of the emotional ladder. And I am exhausted by the time I leave. With my kids, I can usually always tell when they are fibbing and they don't like that at all! lol

People always come to me for help emotional and otherwise and it's been that way my entire life. There were times that I would wonder, why, why, why. I will definitely give some of these tips a try.

I wonder if there's a connection between people who are drawn to a pagan variety path and the manifestation of these
types of empathic/sympathic/psychic traits - it seems to me that the feeling "different"  from the people around you is a key component of those who choose to study and follow the Craft.

I'm also concerned that people don't confuse ability with illness, I worked on a ward of bi-polar women, and that particular illness can be heartbreaking when left unchecked for too long, often ending with suicide; extremes in behavior of any kind warrant medical evaluation.

That said, my first instinct too was "OMG, it's like they're talking about my life," though there's nothing (medically) wrong with me.  

I think, MountainMoon, that the reason why people choose to follow the path is the acceptance of being "different".  If a christian went to her/his church, I'm sure they would be told they were receiving signals from the devil or told to go see their doctor.  And you can't discuss this with a doctor because science for the most part does not accept psychic abilities and they would be in a straight jacket.  
Whether or not people with abilities have illnesses, which I have read is common, or some people may be confusing abilities with illness, I agree that if any person who feels unable to control their emotions or depression, then go see a doctor.  I'll admit, that I seen a doctor and was put on medication for my depression.  That was years ago, and if I have the same symptoms again, I'll go back on medication.   My heart goes out to the people who don't know enough when to go see a professional.

I've always said the difference between a psycho and a psychic is the psychic know when to shut up.  I would have spent my whole life in a mental ward had I ever told the doctors my folk took me to the truth.  I am not an empath however, I just see stuff from time to time.  Mostly just auras.

Ben however is an empath.  He has a problem with always trying to help others.  He drives himself to hard and is usually exhausted because if he has a spare minute and someone comes to him with a problem he will insist on helping them, even if he knows they will disappear as soon as he has fixed their problem for them.  This has lead to him having some 'friends' who will show up out of nowhere.  hang out once or twice then ask for favors.  I try to tell him to let them fix their own problems, especially the ones who never hang out with him otherwise.  But he wont.  Drives me up the wall.

He also is affected by the moods of others and a shitty customer can ruin his entire day.  It's really a good thing that he is in the job he is in.  He doesn't often have to deal with customers.  Many days he can go all day and never talk to a single customer.  But if he gets one who is in a bad mood he will be close to tears when he comes home.  Angry people are the worst, they really freak him out.

Truth be told, the fact that I'm an empath has been a horrible burden on my life, to the point where the emotional overload caused an unfortunate suicide attempt.  It effects relationships I have with people, both romantic and non-romantic.  I've never really been able to get a handle on it, but that might be because I never understood what was wrong with me until someone close explained to me what an empath was.

I was wondering if anyone has any more tips or suggestions for me to help me get this under control.

PS-  I understand the worry that some mental disorders have been mistaken as psychic abilities, but I've already been checked for that sort of thing.


So, if there's anyone who could give me some advice, I would greatly appreciate it.

Well I am new to this group but I feel the need to post ^_^

Indigo Faery - Your boyfriend is just like me. A lightworker is the term I have come to understand. A lightworker is an energy worker of sorts. People feel comfortable around us, like they can tell us things they would normally never tell anyone. I use to be affected greatly by this as a young teen. I would have these severely depressed people find me online or even in person (although rarely) and tell me their life story. I didn't know them. They didn't know me. At 13 it scared the living daylights out of me. I'm 28 now and have grown very use to it. Being a lightworker has its good days and bad days. We can sense the energies of other people. If they are happy or sad. If they are sad, hurt or angry we are drawn to them, to help them you see. Because those people need help. They need that supportive person to help give them a little push to move forward. Problem is, when we over do it, it is very draining on us. At least for me it is. I can become a complete emotional wreck. I need a good week or two to really heal from that.

Griffin - I'm afraid the only way you'll get over your troubles with your empathic ability (however for you, you might want to research the term Indigo Child), you just have to meditate daily. Learn how to set up barriers and shields around yourself. Imagine yourself in a protective egg where no other energies can come in, but yours stay in. Stay in that egg. But remember don't stay in it forever, or you'll not learn how to control yourself or gain any new experiences. I know a young witch that is a very strong empath, and she is the one who informed me on the term Indigo Child. Its basically being an empath but it's much stronger. You are probably a sensitive empath. Meaning you not only sense others emotions but they become yours. If someone is angry, your angry. If someone is sad, then your sad. While being an empath can be difficult from time to time, it's not impossible to manage.

I hope that helps you two and others!

When in public, do you constantly feel overwhelmed with inexplicable emotions for which you can�t determine the reason?

Especially when it is a moment that generates great emotion or energy from a crowd, like outdoor public performances, and the crowd is filled with thousands of people in the audience.


Do you experience other people's physical ailments?

I am not so sure about physical ailments, but if I begin to talk to someone who is tired, I will be tired.

Do you feel overwhelmed when watching something horrible in real life or even on television?

Everything from those ASPCA commercials to zombie films. I know this sounds strange, but for a very long time I've been carrying around with me this immense fear of zombies, and even if I know a film is completely fake, that feeling lingers. I recently discovered that keeping an ankh handy is useful in assuaging the fear.

Do you ALWAYS know what someone really means?
In other words, can you always, always, always tell what it is someone meant to say to you? More importantly, can you tell why they didn�t?

The truth radar is not something that is very active in me, but it is something that my husband is extremely good at predicting.

Do you feel compelled to care for anyone in pain, no matter who they are and what they�ve done to you?

Its very difficult not to follow through with this one. I often hear a voice, call it instinct, however, that tells me not to get too close, but rather, to let people sort it out for themselves. Although sometimes I still do get involved - I guess when it is safe to do so.


Do people open up to you � even if you don�t want them to?

If I had a dime for everytime a stranger walked up to me and started to tell me things about their lives...  Or family that rambles on and on about people I do not even know - that's just as bad. Its enough to process energy of family members, but then about strangers, and what they feel about what's happening to people who are strangers to you... Oi.

Can you heal?

People I don't know used to come up and talk about their lives with me, and I'd listen and console when I could. Apparently this often occurs in my dreams as well as when I am awake. So I am guessing that if I do have the ability to heal, it is somehow connected with that.

I noticed that empathy runs concurrent with depression. I have been walking around as an undiagnosed sufferer of depression for the last 15 yrs. Its terrible that there are people like phoenix's mom who experience these things and are tossed around traditional psycho-treatments, when some alt therapies would do very nicely. I've always been around people who were a bit strange. My best friend is now being treated as a bipolar, but he was always crazy. I imagine it can be hard for a guy who doesn't have a good fatherly role model to begin with, to explore his emotional side without people assuming or spreading lies about his sexuality.

My husband is very empathic, but never knew what that meant, until I began talking about it. This is the reason he cannot stand to be in the company of strangers at malls and stores in general. Just once I'd like to hear and feel what it is that he experiences when he walks into a busy place. He is very much the hermit.

In my family three of us had serious depression at one point or another. My mother, brother, and self; and only two of us ever showed sensitivities of the type that are discussed here, and that was my mother and myself.  I don't always feel such a need to be safely tucked away from society at large. Sometimes I'm very happy to be among crowds, empowering even. That may be due to some bit of psychic vampire in me.

At the same time, doctors and pharmaceutical companies are not helping the world very much by labelling a disorder that could apply to almost every person under the sun. Adverts on radio and tv are suggesting to people... "maybe I should ask my doctor about that... because I have those symptoms". After I graduated with my BA in psych, my brother asked me what the difference was between manic depression and bi-polar. There isn't any, it just sounds more appealing (though I don't know to whom). Most people's problems aren't serious enough to warrant heavy medication, and could live very healthy lives without the media constantly telling them that they're psychologically disturbed. People need to live their lives, and some alt. therapies and spirituality might do some good for people - the kind of good that is lacking in the current state of our drug culture.

I just found this and am so thankful I did! For the longest time I could not explain why I had such drastic and sudden mood shifts and felt others pain. I actually had to go to a psychiatrist who diagnosed me bipolar but the meds he prescribed never helped. Once I got off the medications and started getting deeper into my faith and practice I began thinking was an empath. I will definitely try these tips out! Thanks again!

I know the other day I was bouncin off the walls at work. We have had an influx of people getting on this new diet pill, and they are all bouncin off the walls!! Needless to say so was I!