Hello my friend, 💙
One morning in my session, I was deeply touched by the tiredness and sadness in the eyes of one of my patients. At that moment I thought: How big a part of our lives empathy is and how heavy a burden it sometimes can be. So today, I’m going to discuss an often unrecognized but very common issue that many people experience: the challenges of empathy overload.
Empathy Overload and Personal Stories
Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. However, as a mentor, I have seen that sometimes we feel these emotions so deeply that they become a threat to our own emotional well-being. One of my clients was constantly taking other people’s problems upon herself. Even if this gave her a temporary good feeling, it prevented her from living her own life and led to burnout and depression.
The Importance of Boundaries
It is vital to maintain our own emotional boundaries when empathizing. It is a nice thing to want to help others, but we should not ignore our own needs. Setting and maintaining our own boundaries helps us to maintain a healthy level of empathy.
Empathy and its Effects on Personal Health
Too much empathy can also negatively affect our personal health. Constantly carrying the emotional burden of others can lead to stress and burnout. Paying attention to our own emotional needs and being able to say ‘no’ from time to time can help us to avoid such negative outcomes. 🙂
Finding the Balance
It is important to find balance when empathizing. Taking time for ourselves, meeting our own emotional needs and being able to say ‘no’ from time to time will help us maintain a healthy level of empathy. 🙏🏻
Conclusion
Empathy is an important skill in human relationships, but too much emphaty can be harmful. Maintaining our own emotional health and setting boundaries can be the way to better help both ourselves and others. Remember, taking care of yourself is the first step to helping others better.
Take care of yourself, big hugs 🥰
