I am an empath myself!

Krishna: Know what? I am an empath myself!

Empaths can "absorb" the emotions of others, taking on those feelings and experiences as their own.

I certainly can feel others’ feelings even if they don’t tell me anything and without any effort on my part.

It happens to the extent that it disturbs me a lot if those feelings are sad or painful. I try to control my response but the initial feelings are not in my control.

They are more intense in some places like hospitals, the ICUs, and the trauma care centres and that was why I used to avoid them earlier.

When one of my aunts was on her deathbed (she had liver cancer), although she was at home, I fainted, unable to bear the feeling of her pain. The doctor attending her was so surprised that he told me not to visit her again. The feeling becomes that intense.

Now after thorough critical thinking and training of my mind I can control some of it but not all.

I don’t know whether this is a gift or a curse because I can never harm anyone either physically or mentally because I can understand how much pain they can feel.

How can you tell? My face will become a mirror to your feelings. You can clearly see your feelings in mine!

Sometimes I avoid people if their feelings denote something ‘bad’, ‘cruel’ or anything that comes under the heading ‘negative’.

It is not easy to carry other’s emotional states too. That is why I prefer solitude rather than being in physical social spaces.

Due to the potential for overwhelm, self-care and strategies for managing their own emotional well-being are important for empaths. 

Q: How can you do that?

Krishna: Mirror neurons do that for me! There's some scientific evidence that mirror neurons, which are brain cells that fire when we see something being done and when we do it ourselves, may play a role in empathy and the ability to feel what others are feeling.