Empathy

[mdlbear]

Hmm. Haven't done a river post in a long time. *sigh*

Anyway, a lot of recent posts on my friends' pages have been about empathy. Weird subject for me. Several of my friends, and one shrink, have told me that I'm very empathic. It doesn't really feel that way from the inside. I can't "read" people, and sometimes I'm not even sure what they're talking about. I can barely recognize my own emotions; I often guess wrong about other peoples'.

Conversely, they often guess wrong about me. Apparently my sending is as screwed up as my reception.

There's definitely something there -- I recently came across the term "embarrassment squick", which is a pretty accurate description of why I don't go to a lot of movies. I don't seem to like seeing other people do things that I think would make me feel stupid or uncomfortable if I did them.

In fact, in some cases I seem to have a lower tolerance for other people's embarrassment than my own, on those rare occasions when I actually try going outside my comfort zone.

Does any of this make sense? There isn't really a point to all this; I'm just rambling. Anyway, thanks for listening.

Comments

[catsittingstill]

I can relate to that; the humor of embarrassment just makes me uncomfortable.

But part of being empathetic is *caring* what other people feel--and it seems to me you really do have that.

[mdlbear]

Thanks. Yeah; it's pretty clear that I *do* have empathy. Kind of a mixed blessing. But I probably wouldn't be a songwriter if I didn't.

[dejla]

Oh, yes. All the time. There are many things I can't watch or moments in a show where I close my eyes or get up and leave for a few moments because I just can't sit there.

[freyjaw]

You do feel good to be around, especially when I feel very low. You always know when I feel bad. A non-empathic person can't do that. You're even nice to be around when I'm having a high pain day. Not a lot of people can do that.

[siliconshaman.livejournal.com]

Hey, thanks for this post! I wasn't aware that other people did the embarressment squick thing! No-one else I know has to dive out the room at certain points when watching Tv.

Good to know it's not just me.

[mdlbear]

You're welcome.

[shadowe_wraithe]

Empathy/Empathic Ability is a difficult one to deal with to be most certain. I am a very strong Empath and over the years have learned how to deal with that aspect using emotional/mental shielding...it takes a while to learn, and even on the best of days, I sometimes get blasted by the feelings of others.

Love, Hugs and Blessings To The Household~
Rhainy

[mdlbear]

*hugs* Thanks!

[westrider.livejournal.com]

Embarrassment squick is a big problem for me as well. I pretty much had to stop watching Community because of that, and there are parts of Buffy and Orphan Black that I have to look away and block my ears for.