Sometimes simple intuition isn’t what you’re feeling. You could actually be an emotional empath.

It’s okay to be emotional. In fact, feeling strong emotions has many good points. Unfortunately, being around negative people can have the reverse effect. In that case, it can be draining.

To be an emotional empath takes strength. After all, empathy allows you to absorb feelings from all around you, even feelings you don’t recognize. It can even be overwhelming trying to sort out all the emotional airwaves.

Are you an emotional empath?

So, I guess you’re wondering since you feel overrun by emotion if you’re an empath – an emotional processor. Maybe you’ve felt an overflow of heartache and had the slightest clue where it was coming from. Or perhaps you felt the extreme joy emanating from a group of friends… a joy so grand you felt tears welling up in your eyes.

Well, here are a few signs that you just possibly might fit into this category.

1. You are a lie detector

Let me say this: it is incredibly hard for anyone to lie to you, as an empath. Emotional feelings well up within you the moment another person lies. You fell the tense energy created by the lie and have a hard time not letting the liar know that you know…if you know what I mean lol.

Liars cannot hide things, be deceptive or tell lies to the empath because you know how to read energies and expressions so well.  If lies cannot get past you, then you are definitely gifted.

2. You are creative

Whether it’s painting, writing, dancing, playing a musical instrument or acting, you are creative. When you are creative, most of the time, you are also blessed with an empathic nature.

Let’s face it, when there is so much emotion coursing through your body and mind, there’s no way you can refrain from creating something. Creation is like venting your emotional feelings or draining just a bit of that overflowing knowledge you attain just by going through the day. Yes, this could be you.

3. You are a free spirit

An emotional empath is usually a free spirit. If this is you, then you will probably enjoy traveling, nature, and spiritual aspects such as meditation. All these things help the empath process what’s going on in the mind.

When you meet others and start to share the pain or happy emotions, it can become heavy. That is why being free and enjoying life as it comes is a welcomed release from carrying such large amounts of energy from so many sources.

When you finally get alone, you will also enjoy the freedom of just basking in the atmosphere and skimming lightly from the emotions from everywhere.

4. You listen so well

There are many people who chatter away about everything, but empathic people tend to listen a bit more. If your friend needs someone who will really care about their feelings and what they’re going through, you will listen attentively and try your hardest to help.

In fact, as they listen, you can see the true feelings, notice the truth behind their expressions and even share in the pain. This means, instead of telling their problems to someone who only wants to gossip, they are telling someone who really wants to help. And listening is just what you do naturally.

5. You just know things

You don’t know why you know, but you do. You can tell when someone is lying and you can know when something is happening, maybe even from a far distance.

With the emotional energy the empath receives from this knowledge, also comes a head start at finding a solution. You don’t have to wait until everyone is talking about an event or problem, you will already know.

6. Pain and sadness are almost unbearable

Have you ever been home alone and start thinking of the past? Well, probably all of us have done this. An emotional empath will do this often, actually way too often. Because of the ability to feel emotions so strongly, thoughts of loved ones who have passed on will plague you.

Also, any sort of pain felt by a friend will make you heartbroken as well. Trauma, news, and certain television shows will be hard for you to watch without shedding tears.

7. You can channel emotions

When I hear this indicator, I think of those who channel the dead through the séance experience. However, this is a bit different. While the emotional empath may not be channeling the dead, they can feel what others feel, just as real as their own feelings.

From far away, you can feel the sadness of a mother who has lost a child, or the anger of a man who lost his job. You, as an empath, have the incredible ability to link emotions and make connections that others could only dream about.

8. You daydream….a lot

I remember daydreaming on the school bus every day on the way home. I often wondered just how many other kids were doing this.

Well, empaths do this all the time. There is just so much emotion flowing through them and so much information, that it’s pretty much impossible to not daydream. If you catch yourself zoning off all the time into some fantasy world, you’re probably an emotional and extremely creative empath.

Gift/curse/blessing/responsibility

When I think about the emotional empath, I don’t just think of one certain aspect. I think of all the ways this influx of extreme emotion affects them. I can see this ability as a gift which helps us learn more about ourselves and others. But I also can see it as a curse sometimes because it never really goes away.

I can see it as a blessing because I think we are born into this and it is our calling. And I can also see the rock of responsibility placed upon the shoulders of the empath.

If this is you, I see your strengths and I see your weaknesses. But the world would not be the same without you, and probably be much much worse. Am I an empath? Well, I’m not sure. Sometimes I think I am and sometimes I seem far removed from that title. So, for now, I will just keep learning.

Be blessed!

References:

  1. https://greatergood.berkeley.edu
  2. https://plato.stanford.edu

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This Post Has 9 Comments

  1. Tebogo Makona

    I find that this article speaks to who I am.

    1. Sherrie Hurd

      Tebogo,

      I am happy you could take something needful from this article. That makes me feel happy and fulfilled. Thank you for reading.

  2. RJ Smith

    It’s stunning to come across such an amazing piece of writing, something that describes my inner self so well. I couldn’t have articulated this any better. Some time ago, I read an article on this site about INFJ personality types. Another bullseye! I definitely see myself as an Empath and INFJ personality type. I have experienced, have lived through so much in my lifetime… and both of these articles have helped me understand myself better. I’ve shared them with family members thinking it would give them insight into who I really am, but so far no one seems particularly interested or impressed. They just can’t wrap their minds around this stuff. Regardless, it’s extremely gratifying for me to read these profound articles on the Learning Mind. Thank you!

    1. Sherrie Hurd

      Thank you for reading, RJ.

      I go through some of the same things when I try to share topics like this. Some people even say, “I know. Don’t you think I understand this stuff”, but yet, when they act, it’s clear they do not understand. For decades of my life, I listened to others teach me about things, and now I felt the need to teach others in my family about deeper meanings, secular and spiritual, you see, the things I learned. Yes, I am still learning, but I want to share what I have learned before. I am not sure exactly why, but some family members always speak negatively on what I try to show them or reveal to them. They attack messages, feelings, and yet try to express their own feelings and expect them to be recognized. Hmm, it’s hard to explain, but for some people, it seems they just don’t want to hear what you have to say, and they don’t want to admit they can learn something from you. To be unteachable is to be handicapped in one of the worst ways. We must always learn from each other. Today, I feel sad, because when I try to share things I’ve learned, the closest people to me are never satisfied with what I have to say. Unless I am reading straight from someone else’s words, my words, as they say, makes no sense. Then, on the other hand, apparently, I am reiterating other people’s words. It’s like I”m stuck in a place where nothing I say means anything. You may not be spiritual, RJ, but there was a certain prophet who could help anybody as he traveled, any country, any village, except the one where he grew up, and he couldn’t even affect his own household. How is it that you can help anyone but the ones who know your weaknesses and know where you come from? Does it really matter who we are as opposed to what we can contribute to society? Sorry if I babbled, but this is weighing heavy on me right now.

  3. Susan Elsliger

    I started this at the age of 5 years old.I knew some things were going to happen and they did.I started realizing how God uses empaths to reach out to others in.prayer or other ways.My spirit has always been open to God from a young age and much more now..A great gift but very painful at times..

    1. RJ Smith

      Your comments about God using empaths as a tool for helping others really resonated with me. I’ve played a pivotal role in the lives of multiple family members for a very long time. I feel their pain, anticipate their needs and support them in every way possible, sometimes before they even understand why they’re struggling and what’s need to improve the situation. I was told very recently that I make everyone’s life better. I believe this to be true. I’ve raised my children and am now raising two grandchildren. I’m there for them because they need me. It is very rewarding but at times also very painful. I’d like to believe that I’m part of God’s plan to improve this world, that I’m making a difference.

    2. Sherrie Hurd

      Hi Susan,

      Knowing things can be a curse, yes, but it can also be a blessing. Maybe I am reiterating what you’re saying, but lately, I’ve felt so attacked, and even by some of my own family members, and it hurts like nothing else. I think this has to be the most painful part. To feel things, to understand deeper meanings, and to have that strange intuition – I think it intimidates others, and sometimes even makes them resent you. However, it usually comes from the ones who are trying to live a lie. When someone comes along and tells them the truth that they can see, it enrages them and strikes fear in their hearts. It’s a strange thing to witness, and it can make you feel so heartbroken too. I think, for some of us, our destiny is to weather storms and reach out. I used to wonder when the pain would end and happiness would come, but now I know that I hold my happiness here as the storm rages. Yes, I cry when it hurts so bad, but I also have learned my self-worth which gives me incredible strength in the face of cruelty and evil. Keep embracing your gift. There are people who need to feel the deep feelings you have inside.

  4. Kate

    This type of empath possesses some of the more common types of empathetic abilities. Emotional empaths are able to pick up on the emotional feelings of those around them and then experience those feelings themselves.

  5. Reece

    This explains me so well I noticed it in the past year but I always could tell when people were lying when they said they were ok even if they were completely composed and it’s stunned my friends for a while but I’m glad to finally know what this is

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