BY SARAH DRATNOL, Editor
There are many people who don’t know what an empath is or what being born as an empath entitles. Along with the fact that to the scientific world, empaths are an alternative medicine do to the circumstance that being an empath isn’t something that has been scientifically proven. Some people think that being an empath is one of the more common supernatural traits. Then there are some who believe that everyone is born with the trait but because they don’t use it often enough, the trait fades away.
Empaths are people who can feel other people’s emotions as their own: they literally feel what other people feel. Though this definition of an empath says that one can feel others, that doesn’t mean they are always aware of it. They are often said to be over emotional people, but in reality, they’re sensitive to the emotions of others.
Elise Lebeau is a self stated empath, she tries to help others like her to deal with and gain a little control over their empathy characteristics. Lebeau has said on her site, eliselebeau.com, that “I can sense the emotions of everyone around me, even my next door neighbors. It comes to me like a scrambled radio station where I get bits and pieces from all those people.”
According to Lebeau’s website, there are many traits of an empath that are similar to other types of disorders such as depression, ADD and agoraphobia. The following list of traits isn’t a diagnostic tool, all it shows is some of the traits empaths carry, based on an article from selfgrowth.com.
Empaths often have a hard time falling asleep before midnight or procrastinate going to bed. There are physical symptoms that relate to hearing such as ringing, popping and itching of the ear canal. Empaths often find being in public places overwhelming as the onslaught of emotions come at them. They have constant fatigue and can appear moody, shy, aloof and disconnected. Along with all this empaths get bored or distracted if not stimulated; work, school and home life has to be kept interesting for one or they switch off from it and end up daydreaming or doodling.
Though empaths aren’t scientifically recognized they give the compassion that people need and carry the weight of emotional integrity.
