Now Reading
9 Strategies to Protect Yourself from Empathic Illnesses

9 Strategies to Protect Yourself from Empathic Illnesses

empathic illnesses OMTimes

Empathic illnesses are those in which you manifest symptoms that are not your own.

Protect Yourself from Empathic Illnesses

 

 

Empathic Illnesses: Do You Absorb Other People’s Symptoms?

Many patients have come to me labeled “agoraphobic” with panic disorders, chronic depression, fatigue, pain, or mysterious ailments that respond only partially to medications or psychotherapy. Some were nearly housebound or ill for years. They’d all say, “I dread being in crowds. Other people’s anger, stress, and pain drain me, and I need a lot of alone time to refuel my energy.” When I took a close history of all these patients I found that they were what I call “physical empaths:” people whose bodies are so porous they absorb the symptoms of others. I relate because I am one. Physical empaths do not have the defenses that others have to screen things out. As a psychiatrist, knowing this significantly changed how I treated these patients. My job became teaching them to center and protect themselves, set healthy boundaries, and let go of energy they picked up from others.

To determine if you are a physical empath take the following quiz.

 

Quiz: Am I a Physical Empath?

Ask yourself: 

* Have I been labeled as overly sensitive or a hypochondriac?

* Have I ever sat next to someone who seemed nice but suddenly my eyelids got heavy and I felt like taking a nap?

* Do I feel uneasy, tired, or sick in crowds and avoid them?



* Do I feel someone else’s anxiety or physical pain in my body?

* Do I feel exhausted by angry or hostile people?

* Do I run from doctor to doctor for medical tests, but I’m told: “You’re fine.”

* Am I chronically tired or have many unexplained symptoms

* Do I frequently feel overwhelmed by the world and want to stay home?

If you answered “yes” to 1-3 questions you are at least part empath. Responding yes to 4 to5 questions indicates you have a moderate degree of physical empathy. 6 to 7 “yeses” indicate you have a high degree of empathy. Eight yeses indicate you are a full-blown empath.

Discovering that you are a physical empath can be a revelation. Rest assured: You are not crazy. You are not a malingerer or hypochondriac. You are not imagining things, though your doctor might treat you like a nuisance. You are a sensitive person with a gift that you must develop and successfully manage.

 

Strategies to Surrender Toxic Energy

Physical empathy doesn’t have to overwhelm you. Now that I can center myself and refrain from taking on other people’s pain, empathy has made my life more compassionate, insightful, and richer. Here are some secrets to thriving as a physical empath that I’ve learned so that it doesn’t take a toll on my health.

 

Empathic Illnesses: 9 Strategies to Stop Absorbing Other People’s Illness and Pain

Empathic Illnesses Strategy #1. Evaluate. First, ask yourself: Is this symptom or emotion mine or someone else’s? It could be both. If the emotion such as fear or anger is yours, gently confront what’s causing it on your own or with professional help. If it’s not yours, try to pinpoint the obvious generator.



Empathic Illnesses Strategy #2. Move away. When possible, distance yourself by at least twenty feet from the suspected source. See if you feel relief. Don’t err on the side of not wanting to offend strangers. In a public place, don’t hesitate to change seats if you feel a sense of “dis-ease” imposing on you.

Empathic Illnesses Strategy #3. Know your vulnerable points. Each of us has a body part that is more vulnerable to absorbing others’ stress. Mine is my gut. Scan your body to determine yours. Is it you neck?  Do you get sore throats? Headaches? Bladder infections? At the onset of symptoms in these areas, place your palm there and keep sending loving-kindness to that area to soothe discomfort. For longstanding depression or pain, use this method daily to strengthen yourself. It’s comforting and builds a sense of safety and optimism.

Empathic Illnesses Strategy #4. Surrender to your breath. If you suspect you are picking up someone else’s symptoms, concentrate on your breath for a few minutes. This is centering and connects you to your power.

See Also

Empathic Illnesses Strategy #5. Practice Guerilla Meditation. To counter emotional or physical distress, act fast and meditate for a few minutes. Do this at home, at work, at parties, or conferences.  Or, take refuge in the bathroom. If it’s public, close the stall. Meditate there. Calm yourself. Focus on positivity and love.

Empathic Illnesses Strategy #6. Set healthy limits and boundaries. Control how much time you spend listening to stressful people, and learn to say “no.” Remember, “no” is a complete sentence.



Empathic Illnesses Strategy #7. Visualize protection around you. Visualize an envelope of white light around your entire body. Or with extremely toxic people, visualize a fierce black jaguar patrolling and protecting your energy field against intruders.

Empathic Illnesses Strategy #8. Develop X ray vision. The spaces between the vertebrae in your lower back (lumbar spine) are conducive to eliminating pain from the body. It’s helpful to learn to mindfully direct pain out of these spaces by visualizing it leaving your body. Say goodbye to pain as it blends with the giant energy matrix of life!

Empathic Illnesses Strategy #9. Take a bath or shower. A quick way to dissolve stress is to immerse yourself in water. My bath is my sanctuary after a busy day. It washes away everything from bus exhaust to long hours of air travel to pesky symptoms I have taken on from others. Soaking in natural mineral springs divinely purifies all that ails.

 

Keep practicing these strategies. By protecting yourself and your space, you can create a magical safe bubble around you that nurtures you, while simultaneously driving negative people away. Don’t panic if you occasionally pick up pain or some other nasty symptom. It happens. With strategies I discuss in my book to surrender other people’s symptoms you can have quicker responses to stressful situations. This will make you feel safer, healthier, and your sensitivities can blossom.

 

Click HERE to Connect with your Daily Horoscope!

You will also enjoy 5 Signs You are Facing an Existential Crisis

(Adapted from The Empath’s Survival Guide: Life Strategies for Sensitive People by Judith Orloff MD)

About the Author

For more information about empaths and to connect with Dr. Orloff, visit: drjudithorloff.com


View Comments (11)
  • It’s interesting to observe that the one most potent defense against these kinds of perceived intrusions on one’s body, mind, and emotions was not mentioned or considered. That is one’s heart. I have found that living in my heart, i.e., centering my attention, even my breath on my heart center, breathing in and out through my heart center, especially when confronted with intrusive negativity, has been for me, the ultimate protection.

    The strategies centered around one’s mind, the reservoir of one’s ego, only serve to exacerbate the mental and physical angst, triggered by outside influences. Every religious text, makes mention of love and/or compassion as the ultimate healers. When someone is exhibiting these negatively intrusive behaviors, thoughts, or expressions, or just being near or in one’s personal space, having compassion for their unresolved issues that gave rise to the expressions of their suffering, will without a doubt assuage one’s own painful response to the intrusive symptoms of another’s suffering.

    It’s most unfortunate that through modernity, we have come to live in an ego centric “civilized” society, with it’s almost exclusive focus on the value of one’s mind. The soul centered wisdom of indigenous cultures, especially those connected to the natural world, promotes a soul centric sensibility, which gains one a deeper understanding, perspective, and acceptance of the human condition, than the limits of one’s ego mind, ever can.

  • The first, middle, and last step of this list should be love. Thank you for your commentary Josh. Namaste.

  • I have discovered that I am a physical empath, a discovery I made about 7 years ago.
    First time this happened, I had a huge panic attack (my first panic attack) while watching a movie. I became utterly scared of having a heart attack. Six months after this, my dad had an actual heart attack.
    Three years ago I sprained my back while exercising. It was not bad but out of the ordinary as I was exercising regularly and had a great core. A week after that my husband sprained his back.
    Last year I was showing every symptom of diabetes. Uncontrollable appetite, lethargy, thirst etc. My blood sugar levels came out normal every time. It was nerve wracking. Few months later, my mom was diagnosed with diabetes.
    Last week I started having acidity even while eating right. This morning my husband is having acidity.
    I have stomach pains, headaches, tooth pains, backache, shoulder pains, leg cramps just before it happens to a family member.

  • I have an entirely different take on this. Here’s what I shared on the FB post: I
    disagree with this premise entirely! The repetitive nature of this
    myth is different only from repeatedly calling the sky green in one way.
    They both can be repeated over and over but it doesn’t make it true.
    And, the former causes harm.

  • I actually had a psychologist ask me this question one day. I had suspect for a long time that this may be happening but I thought it was crazy. When a medical doctor brought it up I must have turned white. I have even had to have a tumor removed. Two doctors could not explain why I even got this strange tumor in the bone of my ankle. A year after my surgery my dog was diagnosed with bone cancer. His tumor the exact same leg and ankle that my tumor was. I find myself doing a lot of what the article explains plus what the gentleman explained about love. I am Christian so I pray, A LOT. I ask God to protect me and help me understand. I use to feel like th is was a burden now I see it as a gift. When someone is experiencing pain, be it physical or emotional I litterly know how they feel. I believe this ability has made it possible for me to help people heal. I strongly feel this gift was given to me by God and the more I use it the better I feel. The less pain I am in and the closer I feel to the devine. However I will be honest I still struggle with the exhaustion, the only thing I have foundto cope with that is to take short 20 minute naps, sometimes a few times a day. But I have stopped beating myself up for having to do it, I no longer feel lazy, I have accepted it is just they way I am. It would still be nice though if I didn’t feel so tired 🙂

  • I think the problem with empaths/psychic sponges is that they can be
    hypersensitive and might not be fully grounded in the body so prone to vulnerability or lack of vitality. Many have food and other sensitivities which mirror being on the defense (too much histamine releasing). Many psychic sponges also have history of trauma and abuse which they have suppressed. On top of that they might have fear of anger and of expressing negative emotions. The love n light movement encouraging emotional suppression doesn’t help either. I’ve never known anyone overcome some of these types of conditions (which I have agoraphobia, sensitivities, chronic fatigue etc) through some of the techniques mentioned in the article or “love”. I think agoraphobia can end up being a sensitivity to a violent world which we don’t even see as violent and aggressive because the harsh, fast paced, driven energy is seen as “normal.” A man who had two parents who were tibetan monks said its not uncommon to go through periods of intense meditation and then develop panic or agoraphobia trying to function in the real world.

    I think in many, the issue is overstimulation due to prior abuse, a porous energy field, sensitivity and sometimes burn out. Candida (if one has a history of infections – which the emotional counterpart is weak defenses, too susceptible to the impressions and injections of others) can cause symptoms that shift. If someone has history of a lot of antibiotics, candida can definitely be an issue. I agree with Josh that centering and meditation within the heart would help any condition, but meditation can also exasperate issues as well. it would probably take a holistic approach of treating body, mind and emotions. What I do know from working as a reader and EFT practitioner is that people who continually project their emotions onto others feeling nothing is their own can lose touch with reality and come not to know how to feel or process their own emotions anymore.

  • I have been an Empath since I can remember. I am incredibly confidant but I find myself in states of doubt and confusion when the people i am around act counter to what I am reading from them emotionally. I recently was quite ill and subconsciously began stealing my partners energy. I can handle the physical and the mental challenges that arise when I am in crowds and the like, But the taking from another was something I find inherently wrong and I had no idea i was doing it. I guess no matter what protections I put in place, there will always be a leak. I am what I am because of the universe’s design. It will always find a way to make sure I am living my purpose.

  • Good people have you tried Chinese Medications-Aura ENERGY Necklace,I have several going for $ 250 per piece.

  • I just wish I could stop hearing them a little less . I’m not sure what I am to be honest . I can be a magnet to ghosts (hearing and seeing) but,mainly hearing. I pick up on my family, friends and others emotions and moods/feelings. It gets more emotional than physical for me. ie. My best friend was at the hospital with his Dad and at 10:54 pm I just started sobbing uncontrollably and I felt his pain and suffering . Come to find out his dad flatlined but, they revived him . I told my other good friends “something is wrong with Davy ,I feel intense sadness coming from him”. They kinda blew me off and chuckled a bit but, the next day they found out before me what had happened to his Dad .

  • Oh also, We’d be camping or partying or watching movies and a song would come in my head very strong like I was listening to the radio . We turned on the radio and “Under The Bridge” by Red Hot Chili Peppers was playing the exact same song I was singing and in rhythm too

  • HELLO MY NAME IS ELEASH UDDIN . I LIVE IN
    BANGLADESH. I AM A VERY POOR MAN. I WANT HELP FOR YOU. I AM VERY SICK. I
    HAVE BEEN SUFFERING FROM KIDNEY DISEASE FOR LONG DAYS. PLEASE YOU CAN
    HELP ME GIVEN 10,000 TEN THOUSAND DOLLAR. MY MOBILE OR CONTACT NUMBER IS
    01929374752 AND 01928986900. OR YOU SENT ME MONEY BY MY EMAIL ADDRESS.
    MY EMAIL ADDRESS IS eleashbd@gmail.com and eleashbd@yahoo.com . OR YOU
    SENT ME MONEY BY DHL OR FEDEX COURIER SERVICE. MY ADDRESS IS ELEASH
    JAVED, BUILDING NO – 6, FLAT NO – 10, HOUSING STAFF QUARTER MIRPUR – 14 ,
    DHAKA – 1206 ..

Leave a Reply

©2009-2023 OMTimes Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

This website is a Soul Service-oriented Outreach.  May all sentient beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering and know only everlasting bliss.

Scroll To Top