Who is an empath? How to identify an empath? In this article, you will see the signs of an empath1.
Have you ever come across a highly sensitive person2 who finished your sentence or magically understood how you were feeling at that very moment? Most of the time, empaths aren’t even aware of their empathic traits.
Do you want to know about the signs of an empath?
Today I will give you all the details you ever needed to know about an empath.
What does it mean to be an empath?
An empath is a person who is born with the ability to psychically tune in to the emotional experience of a person, place, or animal. They can sense what another person is saying or feeling even before that individual utters a single word.
They are experts at communication and can quickly and proficiently pick up on body language, tone of voice, body movements, the words people choose when they speak as well as the words they avoid.
However, not everyone is empathic or an empath. You might not know this, but everything around us has an energetic vibration or frequency. An empath can sense these vibrations and recognize even the slightest changes. They tend to feel people’s feelings and emotions as their own.
What are the signs of an empath?
1. Understanding empathy
This might seem very basic, but it is one of the most prominent signs of an empath.
If you’re an empath, you understand what empathy means. Many people treat understanding as a superpower. They brag about their empathic abilities not because they genuinely care about people, but they need something to make themselves feel special.
Real empaths, on the other hand, don’t need titles because they know that empathy is a gift as well as a curse.
At its core, empathy is a very complicated human emotion. It understands another person’s experiences by putting yourself in their shoes and seeing the world from their perspective.
But the exciting thing about empathy is that almost everyone can feel it. I am sure most of you experience shades of empathy daily. You’ll empathize with an older woman, struggling to carry her groceries or a beggar suffering on a hot day. We’ve all had experiences like these, so in one way or another.
What separates an empath from everyone else? Well, empaths have more emotional potential and sensitivity. The emotions they feel are more potent, which naturally changes how they interact with people.
Sometimes, this extra empathy helps them form an intimate relationship with people, and other times it leaves them feeling anxious or downright exhausted with negative energy.
All I am trying to say is that empathy is not a bragging right, nor is it effortless being an empath.
2. Difficulty in keeping up with the environment
This is one of the most vital signs of being an empath. Empaths tend to pick up vibes from their surrounding.
Each physical space carries its mood, attitude, and energy level, which means different environments evoke different kinds of emotions. Some environments are calm and quiet; they might create emotions like peace and comfort, but others are loud and chaotic, so they create things like stress, fear, and concern.
If you’re an empath, you may pick up on these emotions the moment you enter the room. Empaths often tend to mirror these emotions and reflect them, which sometimes proves to be difficult for their mental health.
3. An urge to spending time alone
Well, everyone needs their own space (That’s pretty normal, duh!)
But surprisingly, this is one of the most prominent signs of being an empath.
Empaths are often overwhelmed by people around them as it boosts up their emotions. They tend to run away from crowds or don’t like to be in social situations as they feel assaulted by this abundant energy of others.
They need a lot of “me-time” as compared to ordinary people. This is why most of the empaths are introverts. The more they talk or communicate with people, the more they feel their emotions, which can be very chaotic for their mental state. The collective consciousness3 can prove to be too much for them.
Empaths need space to stop, digest, and think things through. Without these moments of solitude, empaths stay swept up at the moment.
They will make rash emotional decisions without using their head. Luckily some alone time can help them relax and reset. That way, they can think logically4, adjust their priorities, and move forward with a clear head.
Most empaths tend to avoid conversations with strangers and generally keep to themselves. They have an inner circle of friends and family and are completely satisfied with them.
4. Empaths are support systems
Do people come to you and spill all their beans? We have all come across people like this once in our lifetime. Well, the chances of them being an empath are pretty high, as this is one of the first signs of an empath.
It is no secret that being a fantastic listener is one of the signs of an empath as they genuinely care about what people are saying. They take the time to understand their problems and identify their struggles.
There is something that separates an empath from any other good listener. Empaths don’t sit there quietly. They don’t just smile and nod along. Instead, they’re actively involved in the conversation, and they try their best to respond in meaningful ways.
Empaths look out for you and try to understand how your experience feels, and they take your experiences to heart.
Unfortunately, this kind of empathetic listening can be incredibly taxing, especially for an empath. They get so involved in another person’s life that it drains their energy and leaves them feeling emotionally cluttered.
So if you’re an empath, it’s crucial to stay within your limits. It’s important to know that empaths want to help, but they can’t always help everyone, especially those who do not wish to be helped.
5. Finding meaning in everything
One of the most critical signs of an empath is finding meaning in everything, no matter how tiny or insignificant it is.
An empath can be quite an emotional burden, yet most of them are happy and healthy people.
So why is that? Researchers found that empathy increases well-being over time. Even though empaths have extreme emotional highs and lows, they’re more satisfied than an average person.
The reason is that they find more meaning in their lives. They discover emotional depth in the tiniest things like every casual conversation or every passing glance.
If you have noticed these signs of an empath in a person, then there is a chance that they might be an empath.
6. Extreme sensitivity
As stated earlier, empaths are highly sensitive people. “Stop being so sensitive.”- This is something every empath is used to listening to as they often react to small things.
The truth is empaths get their feelings hurt pretty quickly as they feel things very strongly. They’re generally sensitive. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it can lead to some unnecessary drama.
Also, negative people affect empaths more than anyone because empaths draw emotions from the people around them. So if they’re spending time with someone negative, it’s going to have a considerable impact on their attitude.
The bad news is empaths are attracted to toxic people. Even if these toxic people drain their energy and always stress them out, they are drawn to their intensity and emotional volatility.
7. Difficulty in time management
For an empath, setting time limits is a really tough thing. If you’re an empath, you’re probably the first to go overboard and the first to get carried away.
Empaths have to set firm boundaries for themselves and their time. It often happens that an empath spends too much time on other people, which leaves very little time or no time for themselves. Difficulty in managing time is one of the prominent signs of an empath.
8. They often come off as ‘aloof’ to some people
This might seem like a contradiction to the other signs of an empath that I talked about earlier. Empaths are open, and they are sensitive to energy. So you might ask that if they are so open, so sensitive, then how do they come off as aloof?
What happens is that most of the empaths live in denial. They never really acknowledge their capabilities. As a result of this, they are often hurt and have undergone some trauma in their lives.
Shutting themselves down is one of the most prominent signs of an empath. They shut down their hearts in an attempt to prevent any more pain or suffering.
To other people, you may seem like you’re entirely aloof and closed off. It’s bizarre, right? But this is very common.
Empaths feel the pain of others. This is why they often act awkward. For example, an empath might see someone crying and awkwardly walk away. This isn’t because they are a horrible person, but solely because witnessing the pain of others seems excruciating to them.
This is also the exact reason why many empaths cannot have or rather are afraid to have an intimate relationship.
What are some other signs of an empath, according to you? Also, have you noticed these signs of an empath in anyone around you? Let us know!
- De Vignemont, Frederique, and Tania Singer. “The empathic brain: how, when and why?.” Trends in cognitive sciences 10.10 (2006): 435-441. ↩︎
- Benham, Grant. “The highly sensitive person: Stress and physical symptom reports.” Personality and individual differences 40.7 (2006): 1433-1440. ↩︎
- Mathiesen, Kay. “Collective consciousness.” Phenomenology and philosophy of mind 235 (2005). ↩︎
- Seay, Gary, and Susana Nuccetelli. How to Think Logically. Pearson/Longman, 2008. ↩︎
Last Updated on by NamitaSoren
