There are a few buzzwords that live on the internet. Empath is one that people use often and unfortunately, use incorrectly.
Being an empath is a gift, not a curse. You are supposed to use that gift to help others, not live agonizing because of it.
Majority of the people I see claiming to be an empath are actually imbalanced and don't have boundaries. So it makes it difficult for them to form healthy relationships and then they choose people who aren't decent and bond with them. When it ultimately doesn't work out, that other person becomes the bad guy aka the narcissist (the other word used incorrectly on the internet).
The opposite of empath isn't narcissism. An empath is one who taps into their intuitive gifts and assists others. For instance, a medical empath can help you detect disease in the body. I give the example all of the time to my clients of a nurse who keeps pushing to help you when all of the x-rays and tests are inconclusive. The nurse, if a medical empath, can detect where the disease is and zero in on it and call for more tests or second and third medical opinions.
An empathic child can understand when a classmate is hungry and needs something vs the adult teacher who may not be attuned and reads the hungry child's behavior as anger and aggression.
Empathic ability helps us to bridge the gap between Intuition and feeling. It's the ability to see deeper and go past the surface to assist another person. It's not just feeling emotion deeply and agonizing over it with no boundaries.
The thing is though, we all have the ability to be empathic. We should do so more often. Compassion lives here. The ability to put yourself in another person's shoes, to truly hear what they are saying or what they need. To connect with emotional intelligence and bond with another person on a deeper level.
Empathy puts us outside of ourselves and our own needs and helps us to see other people more clearly. Being an empath means you have an inclination towards a deeper, more intuitive perspective when dealing with others (FYI we all have Intuitions as well!).
Take a listen to the video in the post and let's chat about what resonates with you!