Feeling other people’s emotions can be a huge responsibility that others might want to avoid holistically. However, this ability is inherent in a certain calibre of people based on their personality. These people are referred to as empaths. Being an empath isn’t in itself a bad thing. It does have a couple of merits. The highly perceptive and sensitive nature of empaths makes them some of the most understanding and compassionate people out there. But there are some drawbacks to being an empath, empaths struggle a lot more than some may realise. 

*Before we proceed I’d like to remind you that if you relate to any of these signs please don’t take this feedback as an attack on your character. This blog post is meant to be a self improvement guide for those of you who have being feeling a little stuck or those who want to learn more about themselves.*

Well, here are six struggles only genuine empaths will understand.

1. High sensitivity to others emotions. 

A perfect morning can easily be marred as a result of the energy you receive from the people around you. You could be having the best morning so far but an encounter with the wrong person is enough to plummet your emotions. You would be able to detect their negative aura from a mile away and it rubs off on you. Your nice day immediately turns sour and you just can’t bounce back. Empaths are highly sensitive to how others are feeling. This means someone else’s bad mood affects you as well and you can’t simply stop feeling that way. This heightened sensitivity leads to emotional burnout and being mentally overwhelmed. You often struggle to separate your emotions from someone else’s leaving no emotional space for yourself. So while experiencing what others feel sounds great, don’t forget you need to practice self care in the form of boundaries and relaxation as well. 

2. Needing alone time 

Empaths have great people skills so it’s only expected that they’d love to be around people majority of the time however, this is quite the contrary. Empaths need a lot of alone time as well. Constantly feeling other’s emotions regardless of the situation they have at hand personally isn’t healthy. Also, being with people all the time can get exhausting and this pertains to all persons not just empaths. We all need our alone time to recharge and process everything that goes on in our mind. Predominantly empaths are always readily available for their friends and families hence when they are in this phase, most people think they’re being rude or avoidant but it truly isn’t personal. At the end of the day empaths deserve as much patience and understanding as they give others. 

3. People take advantage of them. 

Perhaps you saying no to someone can be hard, whether it be peer pressure or the fear of disappointing someone. When it comes to empaths saying no is especially difficult. You can feel the other person’s frustration and worry when the request isn’t met, which can lead to major guilt. Many empaths are happy to help both in order to avoid this guilt and simply because you understand the request is important. However, this compassion can lead to getting taken advantage of. Some people ask for too much without considering the other person’s feelings and limits. They do this despite the incommode it would create for you and that’s because they now you’d sacrifice whatever you have to in order to help them. Empaths are some of the kindest people out there but everyone has boundaries that deserve to be respected. 

4. Knowing when someone is not okay.

Due to the highly sensitive and intuitive nature of empaths, they genuinely know when someone is lying even without having any sort of acquaintance. This may sound like a great thing, but it has some drawbacks as well. Being the only person who can tell when someone isn’t okay is a lot of responsibility. 

An empath may feel accountable for making them feel better, which can take away from your life. It can be a great task to find the balance between respecting others boundaries and trying to help. This makes being an empath very difficult. So if you are one you should try to remember that no one person is obligated to make everyone else happy and you certainly aren’t that person. You need to prioritise yourself as well. 

5. Being labelled as too sensitive. 

Have you ever been tagged as sensitive when you were genuinely being yourself? More often than not being called sensitive is simply someone else trying to excuse their bad behaviour. By shifting the focus on to you they can make it seem as if you’re in the wrong when you aren’t. Empaths tend to care a lot sometimes over things that may not be a big deal to others. This means you’re often called too emotional or hypersensitive. In reality, you simply have a lot of compassion and care for the world around you which definitely isn’t anything to apologise for. More power to you. 

6. Hypersensitive to bad news. 

When you hear something horrible on the news, how does it affect you? Are you worried and upset for the rest of your day? Or do you compartmentalise it? While this isn’t true of all empaths some get deeply distressed when they watch anything violent. Whether it be a horror movie or the news, you may simply get overwhelmed by the rush of negativity. It can be hard to explain this to non-empaths but at the end of the day, your feelings and preferences deserve to be respected no matter what. 

Being an empath has both good and bad aspects. It’s unfair to think empaths are fortunate and always happy without being aware of the downsides as well. They deserve as much love and care as they give to others. 

Are you an empath? If so, did you relate to these struggles or trends? Feel free to comment down below your experience, input or suggestions. If you found this blog post helpful please be sure to hit the like button and share it with your friends. As always, see you soon.❤️