Empaths and Being Poly

I would say I am reasonably empathic/sensitive to the emotions of others/however you like to term it. It can be a pain at times because while on one hand you are acutely aware of how someone is feeling, on the other they may not verbalise it (think someone slamming things down on a kitchen counter while saying "everything's fine"). You think the worry might be yours alone but time and time again it gets borne out. Those emotions can blow out your day if they are negative ones. But like any skill I think there are degrees of mastery. Imagine being handed a power tool that was thrumming away. If you've never used one before, you might be a bit alarmed. If you are not even sure the tool is there it can be very confusing; you feel it but you might not believe it. But it's livable-with and, in my experience, the more one gets to grips with it, the more useful and beneficial it is.

How does it work? Not sure. Pheromones? Electrical impulses? Maybe. Non-verbal communications and tics? Possibly. Some more esoteric method? Couldn't say.
 
I'm an empath. I want to learn to control it better, but I've long been able to use it to help others feel safe, accepted, supported when they are going through a difficult time or situation.

I know several other friends who are highly empathic, and among them, I am an oddity. Almost all of them are more intorvert than extrovert. Yet I am very much an extrovert (who has for assorted reasons had to live more introvertedly counter to my best interest).

It can be very overwhelming to be around a lot of chaos, but being on my own, it's like there's too much missing and all that's left is void and "negative" feelings and thoughts.

Personal example: I love my grandparents, but being around them feels like scrubbing my chest with high grit sandpaper. We are VERY opposed on many topics, I can feel their discontent with my choices and life in general, even when there isn't a single word said about it.

I've always been extremely approval seeking because it HURTS when people are upset with me. It's led me to be very avoidant of conflict as well. Though I've learned that I CAN NOT please everyone, and often things HAVE TO be confronted. But these are still functionally very challenging on a daily basis.

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There are many ways that empaths have learned to make life more comfortable for themselves, and even be able to help others in their day to day life. I hope to resume working toward a better balance for myself. Most of my effort has been spent toward just keeping going and being supportive to loves and others.
 
Stumbled across this today and thought it might be relevant to the discussion. Of course, the research focuses on empathetic parents, but I'd imagine that there would be a similar thing going on between empathetic poly partners too.

(tl:dr version of the link - having high empathy can affect you negatively at a physiological level, so be sure to take special care of your health and wellbeing if you have this psychological trait)

http://qz.com/625044/being-a-good-p...stroy-you-new-research-says/?utm_source=atlfb
 
kdt26417, it is both at depending on the situation. It can be sometimes beneficial to know what the next person is thinking or what are their emotions at that particular point. This can help you to know the person in a much better way. Somewhere there are people who are having their breakup, divorce because they are not able to know about them, the much better way, they used to. If they would have this ability they could understand how next person feels and can handle the situation accordingly. They can take help of some psychic like Voyance Pure who have six sense and can have a peek look at the past as well as future and can tell what exactly the next person is feeling and what they can do to save the relationship.
 
Not everyone has these abilities. These are unique and special abilities. My friend was also confronting something like this but she was not sure about it. So she consulted someone who has similar powers. They also have some unique abilities so they cleared what exactly was going with her and how to confirm that my friend has those abilities or she was just feeling like.
 
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