What is an Empath?
Posted: April 3, 2021
By: Phoenix Giardino
The Difference Between Empathy and Empaths
Unless you’re a psychopath, a sociopath, or a narcissist, it’s fair to assume that at some point in your life, you’ve felt empathy for another person. That is, you’ve connected to another person’s pain because you’ve experienced similar situation. Unlike sympathy, which means to have compassion for someone whose troubles you can’t fully appreciate, the word ‘empathy’ likely originates from the Greek words ἐν meaning ‘in’ and πάθος (or pathos), which translates into English as ‘feeling’ or ‘suffering’.1
Believe it or not, the term “empathy” didn’t actual exist until 1908.2 It’s important to note here that in 1908, the field of psychology had only been recognized as a science for about thirty years and was still in its infancy. Attempting to translate the German term ‘Einfühlung’ or ‘in-feeling’, early psychologists realized nothing in the English language quite filled the bill, and the new word ‘empathy’ was born.3
And here’s another fun fact: the original meaning of this freshly minted term had nothing to do with sharing someone’s pain. Ironically, it was all about testing theories related to psychic abilities, specifically how a person could mind-meld with a nonliving object simply by thinking about it.4 (Our next post What is an Empath? gives us a 3-D view of this concept.)
Considering most people have walked in someone else’s shoes at least once in their lifetime, is there really a difference between ‘empathy’ and ‘empaths’? Dr. Judith Orloff, a psychiatrist, an empath, and the author of The Empaths Survival Guide answers this question for us. “Being empathetic is when your heart goes out to someone else; being an empath means you can actually feel another person’s happiness or sadness in your own body.”5 Though only 1% to 2% of the world’s population have been confirmed as “empaths”, the number realistically falls between 10% and 15%.6
(image courtesy of basementrejects.com)
For additional information on Empaths, Visit Dr. Orloff’s site:
https://www.drjudithorloff.com
As the date of this blog, there are approximately 7.5 billion people on the planet, making the estimated number of empaths between 7.5 million and 112 million across the globe. I don’t know about you kids, but I don’t consider that “pocket change” (pun intended). In all seriousness, though, if you are not empath yourself, there’s an incredible chance you know at least one person who is—and may not even know it.
For the past thirty years, the American Psychological Association (APA) has classified an ‘empath’ as a ‘Highly Sensitive Person’ (HSP). Coined by psychologist Elaine Aron in the 1990’s, the APA defines a ‘Highly Sensitive Person’ as “someone whose brain feels physical information from their five senses more intensely than the average person and tends to become emotionally overwhelmed as a result.”7 According to IDR Labs, a person’s level of sensitivity is based on the measurement of a key emotional characteristic, frequently called ‘Sensory-Processing Sensitivity (SPS)’. Thought to have evolved as a survival tactic by humans, the use of SPS has been witnessed in several species of animals.8 Though often introverted, psychologists no longer doubt individuals who meet the standard of a ‘Highly Sensitive Person’ are entirely different than those who are shy, reclusive, or withdrawn9.
Get your free HSP test:
https://www.idrlabs.com/highly-sensitive-person/test.php
Empaths versus Highly Sensitive People
Under the APA’s definition, ALL EMPATHS are “Highly Sensitive Persons”—but not all Highly Sensitive Persons are ‘empaths.’ Confused? Think of it like this: ALL Catholics are Christians, but not all Christians are Catholic. Any Christian who doesn’t practice the Catholic faith is labeled a Protestant. While Highly Sensitive Persons (HSPs) and empaths share several common characteristics, such sensitivity to light, sound, and strong smells for instance, HSPs aren’t able to read the moods of others as easily as empaths and don’t appear to absorb the emotions of other people, either. Though far from being all-inclusive, the chart below highlights several mutual factors between these two subcategories of people fitting this description.
Why the Science of Psychology Doesn’t Officially Recognize Empaths
Though the concept of empaths is becoming more commonplace, it ironically tends to be considered a rather undesirable term by psychologists. More likely than not, this is a result of the common misconception empaths believe they have psychic abilities and/or extra-sensory perception (ESP). But do remember: the word ‘empathy’ was coined by psychologists not to discredit, but to prove exactly that.
However, it would be nearly fifty years after “empathy” made its debut that the term ‘empath’ would first appear.10 In 1956, Scottish author J.T. McIntosh’s science-fiction novel “The Empath” came to the silver screen. The storyline centered around empathically psychic souls manipulated by a corrupt government for the purpose of controlling ordinary workers. And what were these psychics called you might ask? ‘Empaths’, of course11, and from there the words ‘empath’ and ‘psychic’ pretty much became one and the same.
NEXT UP:
1. Empathy. Vocabulary.com. https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/empathy . Retrieved: April 6, 2021
2. Lanzoni, Susan. The Surprising History of Empathy. Psychology Today, Published: November 30, 2019. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/empathy-emotion-and-experience/201911/the-surprising-history-empathy
3. Lanzoni, Susan. The Surprising History of Empathy. Psychology Today, Published: November 30, 2019. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/empathy-emotion-and-experience/201911/the-surprising-history-empathy
4. Ibid.
5. Orloff, Judith. The Empath’s Survival Guide. Sounds True, Inc., Louisville, CO. 2017
6. Orloff, Judith. The Empath’s Survival Guide. Sounds True, Inc., Louisville, CO. 2017
7. IDR Labs. Highly Sensitive Person Test. IDR Labs, Published: 2021. https://www.idrlabs.com/highly-sensitive-person/test.php. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
8. IDR Labs. Highly Sensitive Person Test. IDR Labs, Published: 2021. https://www.idrlabs.com/highly-sensitive-person/test.php. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
9. Ibid.
10. The Empath. Directed by David Sonkin. Empath Productions. Unknown, 1956. Dictionary.com. “Empath”. N.d. https://www.dictionary.com/pop-culture/empath. Retrieved: April 7, 2021.
11. The Empath. Directed by David Sonkin. Empath Productions. Unknown, 1956. Dictionary.com. “Empath”. N.d. https://www.dictionary.com/pop-culture/empath. Retrieved: April 7, 2021.
