@sarahsweets, your question has provided you with different opinions about what an "empath" means. As you can see, some individuals, will insist there is some kind of paranormal "empath" with "special powers". These are the same people who will fall for the emails they get that tell them they are being picked up on by someone who has these "special" powers and there is often a letter which seemingly seems to understand THEIR personal needs. Perhaps the ONLY way for this kind of individual to "get it" is if they were able to see how this very same email was sent to MANY and the only thing that is unique is how their name is filled into places in the email so they can see their name and get drawn into the "scam" which is literally how someone makes money.

When I was in a psych ward because I experienced that post traumatic stress breakdown, I was sitting in a room with chairs and a TV and I was by myself sort of watching the TV. Mostly I was still in shock about everything, how I lost some much I had spent so many years creating and not matter how much I tried "all the kings horses and all the kings men could not put it back together again". I did not even know what a post traumatic stress breakdown was, and no one in that place explained it to me either. Truth is no one there was actually trained for that either.

Well, as I sat there a man came in and quietly sat down next to me. He looked at me and said "You are in so much pain, if you let me touch you I will take your pain away" and then he began to tell me he was Jesus and his purpose was to take the pain away for all those suffering. That is when I actually witnessed what a person experiencing "psychosis" acted like. That is what that man was exhibiting and he even followed me around a bit. He was experiencing psychotic episodes. When I was sitting there listening to him? A part me thought "if only you could take away all the pain I am experiencing". That did not mean this man had psychic powers in any sort of paranomal way.

There are lots of times someone can sit and say things to you that can hit something about you that you feel no one else could know. It must be they possess some kind of paranormal power. The reality is that we all have so much in common that it's not as hard as one might think to sit and say things that can appear to come from some paranormal source. That is why people do make money from these emails and other ways to offer some kind of "psychic" reading.

There will always be those that NEED to believe and may even need to believe they themselves have some kind of "special power" too. This has always been present throughout our human history too. It doesn't make it real or true, it's just something many need or choose to believe and most likely always have. What has been sad about that is how it often cost lives though. Even those who followed Jim Jones believe HE had special powers and they drank that poisen believing it was their only salvation. He was a messed up man that was drug addicted and often psychotic.

So, I suppose sarahsweets, you will indeed get differing opinions as there will always be those who embrace some kind of paranormal.

What I shared of what I learned from a professional psychologist is how in the field of studying human challenges and personalities there is a label that called "empath" but it's NOT paranormal or having special powers.

@TunedOut, I appreciate the video you presented. I liked how this man talked about learning how to distance from taking on the emotional needs of others. In a way, it's actually what I have tried to help others learn and instead focus on embracing who they are more.

Unfortunately, all some care about is gaining power over, and they often practice some very selfish and dysfunctional ways of navigating to gain just that. They NEED everyone to do things THEIR WAY and always see things THEIR WAY, and they will choose to emotionally abuse others who challenge them. When in reality each person has a right to find their own path, not just HOW OTHERS NEED IT TO HAPPEN FOR THEM. And often it's these other individuals that claim to have some kind of "special powers" . This is how my sister is, and she doesn't have any "special powers" at all but she NEEDS to believe she does. I think it's sad because my sister is a very distorted person who is getting worse and worse. She projects a tremendous amount of negative emotions onto others, it's gotten so bad it's embarrassing tbh.

My point in sharing what I have learned, is that's NOT what an empath is, it's not about having some special superior or paranormal power at all. Yet, as I mentioned, there will always be those who will need to argue that and embrace the paranormal, always been that way too.

And @sarahsweets, I have seen you do your best to EMPATHIZE with others. You have tried to tap onto your own life experiences to help others find healing as you have been embracing on your own life journey. We don't always fill that void in another, all we can do is stop and try here and there while at the same time remembering to practice self care for ourselves by not allowing that other person to emotionally control us. There are definitely those who will choose to do that, and when you say no, they typically have tantrums and stomp around needing to emotionally punish you in some way. It doesn't mean you are a bad person, instead it means you gave to a person that is not capable of appreciating it but instead just drew you into their emotional need web.