What Is An Empath? How Heightened Emotions Can Affect Mental Health

An empath is a highly emotionally sensitive individual who can easily put themselves in someone else’s shoes and may take on the emotions of others as if they were their own. Because empaths absorb the spoken and unspoken feelings or energies of others, they can be particularly susceptible to emotional overwhelm and burnout. For this reason, it may be important for empaths to develop coping strategies that contribute to self-care and emotional balance. Read on to learn more about what an empath is and how people with empathic traits can care for their mental well-being. 

What is an empath? Understanding deep emotional sensitivity

Many people are familiar with the term empathy, but there is a difference between practicing empathy and being an empath. This difference has to do with the way a person responds to the emotions of others.

Empathy and empathetic people

Empathetic people are generally known to be good listeners who are aware of and can closely identify with the positive and negative experiences of others, regardless of whether they have experienced them themselves. Empathetic people are typically good listeners who can imagine how and why another individual feels and acts the way they do.

For example, an empathetic person might express genuine excitement in response to a friend’s engagement—regardless of whether they’ve ever been engaged themselves. They can put themselves in their friend’s shoes and understand that getting engaged is an exciting milestone in their life.

What is an empath vs. an empathetic person?

Empath is the agent noun form that shares a root with empathy and empathetic. While it’s not a clinical psychological term, this colloquial label describes a person who is particularly highly adept at practicing empathy. Typically, being deeply empathetic comes naturally to them. Highly sensitive person (HSP) is another label that can describe this type of person.

While an empathetic person may cognitively understand the reasons behind others’ actions and emotions, an empath will often automatically take on the emotions of another as if they were their own. This distinction indicates that, while an empath is necessarily empathetic, an empathetic person is not necessarily an empath.

Signs you’re an empath: How to recognize the traits

Emotional absorption is a key tenet of an empath. They may be able to read the social stimuli of a room and immediately sense the atmosphere without a spoken word. This can be a strength and a sign of high emotional intelligence that manifests as strong intuition, fluency in reading body language, and a deep connection to others’ needs. In addition to being affected by the energies around them, an empath’s mood may also be changed by the weather and other environmental stimuli.

Feeling others’ emotions as if they were your own can also become overwhelming and potentially lead to emotional exhaustion or burnout. As a result, an empath might need more alone time than the average person to decompress from high emotional input and work to distinguish their organic emotions from externally sourced ones. 

Advice for distinguishing whether you’re an empath

If you’re trying to figure out whether you’re an empathetic person or an empath, the below exercise might help. What follows are some examples describing how an empathetic person might experience something in comparison to the way an empath might. You can consider which experience you better align with:

1. When interacting with someone who is crying out of sadness, an empathetic person or HSP might listen actively, providing emotional support and comfort out of concern for the individual. On the other hand, an emotional empath may feel the sadness as if it were their own, which may result in them crying alongside the individual they seek to comfort.
2. When reading a fictional book, an empathetic person may feel moved by the story and experience strong emotions while remaining aware that the book is fiction. An empath or HSP, in contrast, may become deeply immersed in the narrative, possibly feeling emotionally affected for hours or days afterward—almost as if they had lived the plotline themselves.

How empaths experience and absorb others’ emotions

Empaths have a strong ability to internalize emotions from those around them. While scientific evidence explaining how people can infer and even absorb the mental state of others remains limited, many scholars believe that a mirroring mechanism, known also as mirror neurons, can account for some forms of empathy. Some hypotheses suggest that mirror neurons seem to have developed in social animals, including primates, to read other individuals’ intentions.

At the same time, a phenomenon known as emotional contagion may explain why an empath can acquire the stresses and joys of others as if they were their own feelings. One scientific hypothesis proposes that this trait also developed as a survival mechanism, allowing for rapid adaptation to environmental challenges.

The link between high levels of empathy and mental health concerns

Without an appropriate outlet, empaths’ emotional absorption can lead to near-constant emotional overload and, eventually, burnout. Additionally, studies have suggested a link between high empathy and anxiety disorders, which may be due in part to the tendency of those with strong levels of empathy to exhibit a ruminative thinking style. However, more research is needed to determine the accuracy and intensity of the correlation.

An empath who does not maintain healthy boundaries or coping mechanisms may self-isolate in an attempt to recharge after social interactions, which could affect mental health when done in excess. They may also show increased sensitivity to criticism and conflict avoidance. According to multiple studies, including one from 2024, a lack of positive emotional regulation may lead to the deterioration of mental and physical well-being.

Over time, mental health concerns may result in physical pain through somatization, sometimes diagnosed as somatic symptom disorder (SSD). In SSD, psychological distress may cause mild to moderate mixed symptoms, including headaches, nausea, dizziness, and physical exhaustion. However, because physical symptoms can be a result of an underlying health condition, it may also be important to see a licensed healthcare practitioner to determine the source of physical pains.

Managing empathy and overwhelming emotions

Empaths may be especially sensitive to negativity, which can create adverse effects on their well-being. In conjunction with a tendency to feel loneliness in their perception of the world and a sense of responsibility for others, empaths may be prone to emotional burnout.

With this in mind, empaths may implement strategies like the following to protect their own mental and physical health:

• Setting emotional boundaries with others
• Learning to prioritize personal needs
• Meeting with friends one on one or in intimate groups rather than in large groups or in crowded, loud spaces
• Practicing emotional detachment while maintaining compassion for others
• Engaging in self-care

These tools may help an empath cultivate emotional well-being and resist burning out while maintaining strong social connections.

Building healthy emotional boundaries

Building healthy emotional boundaries may require self-reflection. Identifying pain points and situations that dysregulate your nervous system can be a helpful way to understand your personal limits and how you can avoid reaching them. For empaths, that might mean learning how to say no without feeling guilt, or limiting exposure to negativity. 

Self-care strategies to protect an empath’s mental health

Self-care tools can vary based on each individual’s needs and preferences. However, some common methods include:

• Spending peaceful moments in nature
• Finding creative outlets (e.g., painting, writing) where you can spend time processing intense feelings
• Taking alone time while balancing a healthy social life
• Eating nutrient-dense foods as often as possible
• Exercising regularly
• Self-reflecting through journaling
• Meditating or practicing grounding, mindfulness, and emotional release exercises
• Meeting regularly with a licensed mental health professional

These techniques may be helpful for empaths who are learning to balance a healthy lifestyle.

Advice on the diagnosis process for empaths

While there is no formal diagnosis for being an empath, emotional sensitivity may sometimes arise as a symptom of or exacerbate symptoms of an underlying mental health condition, like anxiety, depression, or borderline personality disorder. If you’re experiencing a level of emotional sensitivity that negatively impacts your daily life, consider consulting with a mental health professional for support and guidance in navigating the challenges associated with it.

Why there is no official diagnosis for empaths or high empathy

Official diagnoses are governed in part by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), which characterizes and categorizes each mental disorder that’s clinically recognized today. The DSM defines a mental disorder as “a syndrome characterized by clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior that reflects a dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or developmental processes underlying mental functioning.” Being an empath does not fit this definition.

However, that doesn't mean that an empath can’t also experience a mental health condition, or that they wouldn’t benefit from meeting with a therapist. If you have trouble distinguishing your own emotions from others’ or often feel overwhelmed and emotionally drained, you may want to consider working with a mental health professional. A licensed therapist may be able to help you set healthy boundaries that lower your emotional stress in everyday life, address any symptoms of an underlying mental health condition, and improve your overall mental health.

Exploring online therapy for empath’s mental health

Again, therapy can be a helpful form of support for a person who is struggling with emotional boundaries or other challenges, but in-person care isn’t right for everyone. For example, online therapy can be a useful tool for empaths in search of a mental health professional who has specific knowledge about the empath experience, since it allows connection to a larger pool of providers than what may be available in a person’s local area. Plus, for empaths who experience anxious feelings, digital sessions can offer flexible, low-stress therapy options that accommodate scheduling concerns and account for an empath’s need for alone time.

Research on online therapy’s effectiveness

In multiple studies, online talk therapy has been suggested to perform nearly as well or equally as well as its face-to-face counterpart. According to one 2022 meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials, for example, it’s indicated that internet-administered cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can achieve a similar therapeutic effect as in-person therapy. CBT is a talk therapy approach that is commonly used to treat anxiety and depression, which can make it useful to empaths who face related concerns in their daily life.