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Anxiety – Being an Empath written by Leanne Allen
Everyone has traits of being an empath. The more in tune you are with yourself and your surroundings the more you will feel sensitive to the emotions and energies of others. When someone realises that they are an empath it changes the way that they see the world, themselves, and their anxiety.
In my practice as a psychologist I see a lot of clients with anxiety. I have come to realise that a very high percentage of these people can also identify as being an empath, which is a person who has the ability to understand and share in the feelings of another. Once an anxious person realises that they are an empath, it changes the whole way they look at themselves and their anxiety.
Anxiety is a condition that affects one in four of all Australians at any one time[1]. That’s one in five men and one in three women and it affects children too. There are different types of anxiety disorders, such as social phobia which affects 5% of the population and Generalised Anxiety Disorder which affects another 2.7% of Australians [2]. To find out if you have anxiety you can complete the Depression Anxiety and Stress Test on our website.
Anxiety is more than just stress. Everyone feels stress at some point in their lives, however anxiety has symptoms like rapid heart rate, sweating, stomach aches and a feeling of fear or panic that can leave people avoiding situations. It can be so debilitating that sometimes people may feel like they cannot leave the home [3]. If you relate to being an empath and have a degree of anxiety, here’s a few more keys that may assist you further.
An empath is someone who is highly sensitive to the feelings of others. They may have heard other’s tell them that they are too sensitive or feel overwhelmed by crowds or shopping centres. An empath is often someone who is easy to talk to because they listen and tend to understand on an emotional level what is going on. So an empath will do whatever it takes to help others. Further, an empath can feel that their energy is drained by loud places or music. An empath would often prefer to be around animals and feels the need to be around nature to recharge. There is so much information about this on the internet, I like ‘30 Traits of an Empath’ [4]. To find out if you are an empath, take this quick test.
Everyone has traits of being an empath. The more in tune you are with yourself and your surroundings the more you will feel sensitive to the emotions and energies of others. When someone realises that they are an empath it changes the way that they see the world, themselves, and their anxiety.
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They realise that all the emotion they are feeling actually is a reflection of other people’s emotion and not all their own ‘stuff’
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They can learn how to distinguish between their own emotion and that of others
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It becomes obvious that the time out they give themselves in nature is essential and if they haven’t been doing this, then they start to
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They understand why they feel drained around some people and they can make a decision to cut contact with those people (this really is very important)
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They begin to understand themselves on a far deeper level
If you believe your anxiety could be due to you being an empath then do your research! As previously mentioned there is a lot of information on the internet about this. You can also find psychologists or counsellors in your area who might understand this. It might take some ringing around though.
Author of this article:
Leanne Allen (BA Psych) is the principle psychologist at Reconnect Psychology and Coaching Services. She has trained in Sandplay Therapy, NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) and CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) and has just completed training as a life coach. Leanne’s approach is to look forward whilst releasing the trauma of the past. If you would like to talk to Leanne or arrange an appointment in person or via Skype, you can reach her on 1300 132 252. Please feel free to leave a comment on the Facebook page or check out Leanne’s Website.
