I'm definitely more understanding of those who have mental illness... for example a friend of mine was talking about how hard it was for her to live with a roommate who was actively suicidal... I pulled her aside and said while I'm sure it was hard to live with that (it would be!) her roommate probably would not like that she was telling everyone about her suicide attempts, in detail (because I wouldn't).
I also am very understanding when people are upset and just want to be left alone. I'm good at leaving people alone.
What I'm NOT good at is sitting and listening to people talk about their problems. BP may have made me empathetic in some ways, but not like that. I don't like talking about my problems and I don't know how to handle it when others do.