Damn you, @Earthgirl and @Blondesjon! You stole my lines! But GAs to the both of you.
@Blondesjon When did you become such a sensitive guy?
Since I’ve been sick, my sense of empathy has almost become overwhelming. Now that I’ve learned about depression, there are so many things that I understand now that I didn’t understand before. It sounds so tacky due to Bill Clinton, but I do feel other people’s pain. In fact, all I need are a few details of a person’s life before I am in their life, feeling what they feel—to the point which I can feel things they haven’t even identified yet and point those feelings out to them.
Used to be I was sympathetic to folks with depression. It sounded bad and I was sorry they had to go through that. But once I experienced it for myself, I had a completely different level of awareness. I can now recognize people who have some kind of mental illness when I meet them. They don’t even have to tell me. I know. Because we are the same.
Not all forms of mental illness, though. I’m still not getting it with schizophrenia. It’s hard to empathize with the schizophrenics I see on the street. I am sympathetic, but I don’t really want to feel what they feel. It’s too scary, and I’m not sure I want to suffer the consequences of feeling empathy for them.
Empathy takes a lot out of me. If I’m with someone who is depressed, it is easy to start getting depressed, myself. If I am with someone who is manic, I get manic. The energy from these feelings is very infectious when you feel empathy for someone. When it’s only sympathy, you feel bad about their plight, but you don’t feel their plight. Sympathy is more manageable. Empathy throws you around emotionally speaking.
But empathy can teach you so much. People trust you more easily when they feel your empathy for them. They don’t feel like you judge them when you are empathetic. They feel like you really are trying to see things from their point of view. Empathy is rewarding, but it can be very difficult, emotionally.