Empaths, like I mentioned in one of the threads, are highly sensitive individuals (in some cases known as "highly sensitive person" or HSP) who "feel" what other people near them are feeling and experiencing. Being empathic can be problematic for anyone who cannot discern the difference between his own suffering and the pain of others. It is taxing to the emotional and physical body to take on the symptoms of others and not have the knowledge of how to release pains that do not belong there. I wonder how many are or know someone who is Empath, and know of how an Empath can prevent and fend off psychic attacks.
 
Curse or Blessing

All in all, being an empath is a double edged sword. It can be both a curse and a blessing. On one hand, you have the ability to intuit exactly what you need to do to make someone comfortable. On the other, it is easy to lose track of what you need, because you are so accustomed to caring for other's comfort before caring for your own. You have easy access to information about what is going on with the people around you, but sometimes it is hard to know your own mind.

Some people would love to learn how to be more empathic, while others would love to learn how to retain the best parts of that skill, while managing the more difficult aspects. Empaths tend to care take their environment as a way to care take themselves. This is a pretty roundabout way of doing self care. Doing or saying something that will make someone else angry or sad is uncomfortable for an empath, so that they often avoid confrontation in order to avoid feeling other people's uncomfortable emotions. It is easy for them to lose track of the fact that they themselves are feeling uncomfortable.

I'd like to discuss this with everyone because I am an Empath, and I have suffered and cherished this blessing, and burden. It makes me extremely vulnerable to attacks and the same time opens doors to other things.

 - Traits than are most common in empathy/empaths:

Feeling emotions often and deeply greatly aware of other people's feelings
Easily hurt or upset by insults or unkind remarks
Avoids conflicts and confrontations
Cannot easily release sad or upset feelings
Feel deeply for others' suffering and pain
Prone to recurrent depression
Keenly aware of and affected by beauty (ex: art, music, nature)
Feelings of being overwhelm or depleted by too much stimuli - such as large crowds, loud noises, hectic environments
And most likely sensitive as a child.

[Levinthross]

well most of my life ive been a non projective empath until recently, but my advice is vent through art, physical activity or anything just prevent yourself from overloading

[Daemonin]

Um...

Well.  After reading those symptoms, as much as I hate to say it, all seem to apply in some way or another.  Does that make me an empath?

I've felt that I am for some time, but never had much "proof" (for myself to see, not for others) to say that I am truly one.  I just kind of figured I was an overly compassionate person or something.

I'm decent at blocking things out, but strong emotions that others have pass over to me when I don't want them too.  Actually, earlier today a girl started crying in class because she was saying something about how her mother had died.  She was right next to me and I had to block her out to keep from bawling with her.  I had to bite my tongue and think of other things to keep from doing so.

Maybe I'm just a bleeding heart?

And I do find my outlet through visual arts like painting and drawing.

Feeling emotions often and deeply greatly aware of other people's feelings
Easily hurt or upset by insults or unkind remarks
Avoids conflicts and confrontations
Cannot easily release sad or upset feelings
Feel deeply for others' suffering and pain
Prone to recurrent depression
Keenly aware of and affected by beauty (ex: art, music, nature)
Feelings of being overwhelm or depleted by too much stimuli - such as large crowds, loud noises, hectic environments
And most likely sensitive as a child.

Uy, mama.... 

Yap, thats me... dammit... I knew it...   

See, now Im crying.... not... but almost.....

Easily hurt or upset by insults or unkind remarks: Definitely.

Avoids conflicts and confrontations: As you've seen, if anybody I know starts arguing, I freak out.

Cannot easily release sad or upset feelings: I bottle. I bottle until I explode all over the place.

Prone to recurrent depression: Yep, but nowadays I get over it real fast. It's good that I have friends I can vent to.

Keenly aware of and affected by beauty (ex: art, music, nature): For me it's natural beauty, like a lion wit her cubs, or an eagle flying.

Feelings of being overwhelm or depleted by too much stimuli - such as large crowds, loud noises, hectic environments: That's me, I'm an indoor nut.

And most likely sensitive as a child.: Not sure.

No, I don't really think I might be an empath, cuz the main thing is that you "feel" other's emotions. But I don't, really.

Well, believe me, its no fun when you start to hysterically cry over a scene on news... and it wasnt that shocking at all, just I sensed their fear and it was overcoming..... but mum is used to it, and all who know me. I trained controlling  that by reading and watching as many bad news as possible.

Is it possible that if you're an empath, you learn to block it all out as a coping mechanism from an early age?

Yes, block, but you cant make it totally go away, or deleted...

Well, I don't really think I am. I guess I'm the white sheep of Monstrous.

[Levinthross]

as a guy and an empath i just want to say it honestly sucks when your around women who are menstrating and refuse to take something for it

I'm lucky, I'm pretty stable around then, at least compared to my sisters. & I don't get cramps or anything, which kinda sucks when it comes early & you are caught by surprise.

Anywhooo,

[Daemonin]

Okay, this may just be a woman thing, but have any of you females experienced major pregnancy symptoms only to learn later that your friend was the pregnant one?

No, I experienced that without any friends near me.... false pregnancy... I even went to see the doctors, and they said I was pregnant, which was really funny at the time, cause I had no sexual intercourse... imagine that....

Weird, how our bodies work. I've heard of perfectly normal guys having false pregnancies, even up to the point of labor pains & lactating. I wonder if that was just empathy?

[Daemonin]

I thought maybe it was psychological, and just sympathy... symptoms?  But then I remembered I wasn't told until a while after she had found out.  I know a lot of women that are around each other a long time tend to have their cycles close together, if not synchronized after a while (unless medication is involved), so I kind of figured it had something to do with that.  But hey, what do I know?