Understanding the world of an Empath and a Sensitive Person

If you feel easily overwhelmed and drained by negative people or in social company, tend to feel emotions that you can find no reason for and have been often called “too sensitive”, You may be an Empath or a Highly sensitive person.

Is this you?

• Do you feel overwhelmed when you have a lot to do in a short span of time?
• Have you ever been told that you’re “too sensitive” or “too emotional”?
• Do you have high sensitivity to strong sounds, smells and sensations like bright lights, perfumes, coarse fabrics, or loud noises nearby?
• Do you get more affected by violent movies, conflict, TV shows and News?
• Do you cry while watching particularly heartwarming videos and can really empathize with the feelings of others, both negative and positive?
• Do you try to avoid situations that leave you feeling overwhelmed?
• Do you notice or enjoy delicate or fine scents, tastes, sounds, or works of art?
• Do you tend to care deeply about your friends and tend to form deep bonds with the right people?
• Do you have a rich and complex inner life?

Sensitive people (or as Elaine Aron refers to as ‘Highly Sensitive Person’ or HSP) are the ones who feel everything deeply and intensely. For them feelings are important and something that cannot be ruled out. Sensitive people see the world differently, they are more aware of subtleties and process information deeply.

Empaths are deeply sensitive people who can also easily feel other’s emotions and energies. For empaths, the experience goes even further as they can even experience others’ feelings and pain as their own, often to the point of taking on the pain of others at their own expense.

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All empaths are sensitive people but not all sensitive people are empaths.

Before we dive into the world of an empath and a sensitive person you need to understand that this is a normal trait. It is found in about 15 to 20% of the people around the world. It is not a disorder. Sensitivity, if anything is a cultural issue, because every culture deals with sensitivity in a different way. Most of the sensitive people and empaths suffer from low self-esteem because sensitivity is not considered a “desirable” quality. 

Being sensitive simply means that you process the world in a very different way, you are much more aware of the subtleties and you are perceptive about the energy around you.

Kim Egel, a San Diego-based therapist, expands this further: “Empaths have a higher sensitivity to outside stimuli such as sounds, big personalities, and hectic environments. They bring a lot of heart and care to the world and feel things very deeply.”

Here are a few things that will help you understand yourself or your loved ones who are sensitive, better.

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