An Empath?

"Someone who has the natural ability to understand the emotional, mental, or physical state of another person or animal. Someone who easily senses, feels, and reads the energy surrounding them."

OK, friends, go on a brief journey with me, taking time to recall "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and that marvel, Commander Deanna Troi, the half-human, half Betazoid who had a unique ability to sense emotions. For some reason I always felt a connection with her. She was a problem solver and a consensus builder, an Empath, and I really liked her. It has been ages since I watched her skillfully solve the emotional problems of people and creatures, soaring through other universes in deep space.

Unlike Deanna, I have never internally experienced the emotions of others, but as I have become older and more reflective, I realize that I unknowingly take on the physical "feelings" of others, specifically like when they are really sick. It happens primarily with immediate family. I wonder, is this an empathic phenomenon? For a long period I assumed this happens to everyone. But then I noticed my friends and family were not physically overwhelmed by their loved-one's illnesses.

In retrospect, years ago, I must have come to realize that I was a bit different. When I stepped into my children's rooms when they were ill, their aches and malaise would overcome me, and I immediately felt sick too. Often I would have to lay down a bit until that aura of illness left me. My younger sister was quite often ill as a child. I vividly recall my Mom's anger when I would lay down and tell her I was sick too. She told me I was only wanting attention, and "I was fine." Yes, I was fine, but again, in retrospect, simply taking on the "feelings" of my sister's symptoms.

It is doubtful that there is any science related to this, so I have very little understanding of what goes on and what this means. Perhaps it is a supersized sensitivity to the energy of others nearby. I do not take on my grandchildren's illnesses, but they live far away. My husband's frequent surgeries for malignant melanoma and other illnesses are not something I "feel." Yet I inevitably take on a great deal of his illness in the form of extreme emotional and physical exhaustion. My friends with ill husbands say they are not exhausted, or physically affected in that way.

So, the story concludes, I've joined a group on Facebook called "An Empath" and discovered that there are quite a few people out there who can relate to this. My hunch tells me we Empaths are "tuned in" to different things. With me it is illness, with others, it is simply a heightened sensitivity to relationships, connections of the spirit and the mundane and/or a much broader view of life's dimensions. And that is about as far as I can go with this. But I find it fascinating, and perhaps you will too. If you have more information about this, let me know!