What Does Empathy Feel Like (Physically and/or Mentally)?

Question

As confirmed by my "sociopath" diagnosis, I get somewhat confused at what people mean by "empathy".

I do know it has to do with guilt and/or self-flagellation, but when you have empathy, what does the sensation feel like?

Describe in as much detail as possible, and the 10 points are yours for the taking.

Answer 1

empathy is when you have a deep sensitivity for what another person is feeling, for instance, if you remember the tv series star trek the next generation counselor Troy was an em path she could experience another persons thoughts. Also on star trek Spock had empathy when he did a VOL CAN mind meld. Ofcourse these are extreme cases.  

Answer 2

It's not actually guilt - it's more like understanding how the person feels - putting yourself in their shoes and imagining how they must feel.

It doesn't mean that you are the cause of the persons pain - just that you can associate.

Sociopaths have difficulty in imagining others feelings or seeing beyong or out of their own feelings - thus you have no description to base another persons emotions on because you feel very little yourself.

I wonder how it feels to be a sociopath?

Answer 3

Empathy is a emotion that the world needs big time,  to understand the place , position, the incident and feel for that person as if  it was happening to you

I feel sorry for you if you can not feel this,  how does it feel not to

kind of like a machine?

Answer 4

Empathy is a mental attribute so it doesn't have a physical feeling in itself. However, there is a physical feeling whenever one empathises with another.

If I have empathy with someone, depending on the depth of the issue at hand it can be quite mentally painful - grief is a classic example.

I lost my daughter in a car crash so if anyone is talking to me about losing a child I can empathize & feel both my grief and theirs at the same time. I suppose it has something to do with sensitivity as well.

Hope this helps. Regards UK

Answer 5

If you are a true sociopath I don't think you will be able to relate to anything anyone will tell you about how it feels like since you have never felt it before. You may be able to use some of the descriptions here by incorporating the behavioral aspects of what you understood about empathy into your behavioral arsenal, but it will be superficial as you will only be able to process t hat information cognitively. Why would you care to look like an impostor? Empathy to me feels like whatever is happening to the object I am empathizing with is happening to me. But since you have unhealthy connection to yourself, if you are in fact sociopath, this explanation not likely to help you. Either way good luck!

Answer 6

Empathy is when you feel like someone would: Say someone's cat died and they told you. If you felt sad and sortof downbeat, like they do, that would be empathy.

If someone won an award that you wanted, and instead of feeling jelous you felt really happy for them that would be empathy.

In other words, Empathy is just trying on someone's shoes instead of walking a mile in them.

Answer 7

Empathy is looking at things through the eyes of the other person, understanding their perspective on things. Understanding what they are going through. It is a sense of knowing how to react to situations with empathy. How to respond by knowing or trying to place yourself in the shoes of the other person. It is a hard skill to learn, it is all part of emotional intelligence.