How Empathic Are You?

If you’ve ever felt someone else’s pain or sensed the shift in energy in a room without knowing what caused it, you might just be an Empath. See how many of the following Empath traits you resonate with.

For each statement, give yourself a “0” for never, a “2” for sometimes, and a “3” for always:

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1. You sense others' pain and sadness.

2. You pick up quickly if someone means one thing but says another.

3. You feel drained if you are around certain people.

4. You get strong first impressions of people—both negative and positive—that endup being spot on.

5. You see something sad—for instance, an animal being hit by a car—and it takes you much longer than others to stop feeling sad or sick about it.

6. Others don't understand how deeply you feel and why you can't just "let it go."

7. You always feel like you view life from a different perspective than everyone around you. It seems like no one is "like you."

8. You've experienced the sensation that you are feeling the pain of the whole world.

9. There are times when you feel so overwhelmed with the pain of the world that you want to crawl under the blankets and not interact with anyone for a few days.

10. You can't watch or read the news or watch sad or violent movies because it's too upsetting or makes you sick.

11. You repeatedly feel the same emotions or sensations around the same people.(For instance, every time you see a particular friend, you feel anxious or sad for no particular reason.)

12. You feel sick or in pain when you are around certain people for no physical reason, or you seem to take on other's symptoms, feeling as they feel.

13. You feel like your mood or emotions change when certain people enter a room.

14. You've walked into a room and felt the energy was different, without knowing why (for example, walking into the office and being hit with the sensation of tension or anger—I used to be able to walk in the front door of the office and know whether my boss was in a good or a bad mood without seeing him).

15. You sometimes get overwhelmed when there are a lot of people around, but can't figure out why you feel overwhelmed (there's nothing outwardly unpleasant going on).

16. You sometimes feel like your emotions change on dime, but you don't know why.

17. People come to you as their "energy source," because you brighten their day or have other impacts on their emotions.

18. People seem drawn to you and need their "fix" of you to feel better. Often, animals and children will be very drawn to you as well.

19. You prefer to be near water, especially when you are feeling overwhelmed.

20. You need to have time in nature to feel balanced.

21. You've had people ask you why you are "such a bleeding heart," or make fun of you for feeling so deeply (I cannot tell you how often this has happened to me!).

22. You care for others more than you care for yourself and feel like you "have to" take care of people, even when you know you are burning yourself out.

23. You have a hard time taking care of yourself because you are too busy taking care of others.

24. You feel—or know—that plants and animals have a soul/awareness, and feel their pain and sadness.

25. You've had times in your life when you went through such a traumatic event that you were totally numb.

SCORE

WHAT IT MEANS:

IF YOU SCORED 0 - 25:
You have some Empathic traits, but wouldn't be considered a true Empath. It's important to make sure that you still take care of yourself and don't let yourself get overwhelmed, but it's likely you are pretty balanced between helping others and setting good boundaries.

IF YOU SCORED 25 - 50:
This score on this test shows that you are definitely an Empath. You sense things in a way that's different from the average person. You aren't just relating to someone's feelings, you are sensing them as your own. You likely get exhausted sometimes and wonder why, without realizing you are giving out too much positive energy and taking in too much negative energy from around you. While you are fairly balanced if you are in this range, there's no doubt you'd benefit from tools and resources to help you to use your EFP (extra-feeling perception) to be a benefit to yourself and the world. Please consider joining the Empath Institute (below) to learn how to turn your empathic senses off and on in order to be healthy and happy yourself.

IF YOU SCORED 50 - 75:
You are an "extreme Empath," and have the ability to soak in others' emotions without consciously knowing you are doing so. You sense the "vibe" of a room or place without visual clues (such as tears, yelling, or slamming of doors).

Now that you know your score, you can better take care of yourself and avoid burnout.