My psychologist told me that I was a “empath” does anyone know about picking up peoples feelings and emotions that makes you hyper-aware and sensitive and is it really just linked to being OCD or is empathic people experiencing something different?

It's a new age word as butterfly said, people often don't like it because it makes interpersonal interaction or emotions sound like something magical and mysterious. Unfortunately, the word misrepresents a lack of boundaries as an innate personality trait rather than as the problem it really is, and so people who self label as empaths are often pretty blind to the problematic elements of their behaviour. Your psychologist is probably aware of the stuff behind the concept of an empath (poor boundaries, hypervigilance, fawning trauma response, anxious attachment style etc), so I don't think that they are ignorant or anything, their use of the word just tells me that they've seen some of this in you. So I'm going to give the info and advice I wish I'd been given when I was younger. Hypervigilance to the emotions of others stems from having chaotic, neglectful or otherwise unpredictable caregivers as a child. Anxious, hyperaware brains are more likely to have comorbidities, including OCD- that's the link. You can't control the fact that you're highly aware of other people's emotional states, but you can change how you deal with those situations, which often makes those feelings less intense over time. It's good to be a compassionate person, but compassion without boundaries is not good for anyone involved. Responding automatically to the emotions of others with guilt-laced reorientation of your priorities about them/fixing them/helping them/solving their problems etc is not healthy. Staying up all night repeatedly to support an unstable friend having continuous problems, even though this negatively impacts your life, isn't healthy. Not checking in with yourself about how you really feel about something you're doing, as well as not being able to work out what you DO want when you ask yourself, isn't healthy. Not being able to say no to a request because it makes you feel guilty despite negative consequences to yourself or those around you, isn't healthy. Being unreliable because you drop commitments to prioritise the needy isn't healthy. These things are also dangerous, they can easily lead to being taken advantage of by someone manipulative. Not to mention that when you FEEL taken advantage of by (non-manipulative) others because they often ask things of you and you never say no, can lead to a build-up of resentment and when that build-up eventually explodes on people, you do damage to your relationships and self-esteem. You are allowed to *notice* negative things about others' behaviour. Noticing is not judging-nasty-awfulness, and you cannot protect yourself in the most basic ways or make good decisions unelss you're willing to let yourself notice. Once you notice, you can decide what you want to do about it, and can leave the situation/communicate your feelings in a kind and firm way. Noticing doesn't mean you're going to explode on them, you're in control of your behaviour. You have a right and more importantly a *responsibility* to set boundaries for yourself and others. ESPECIALLY when it makes you feel guilty. Not getting sucked into other people's issues or not doing everything people ask of you, can make you feel guilty, like a bad person, question your own motivations and wonder about what they think of you. You absolutely must behave with good boundaries regardless. Some people won't like it, because they're used to you not having much of a spine and that suits them. You are better off with those people not liking you for changing it- they don't respect you. I can tell you from experience that the more you practice being kindly but firmly assertive and prioritising your commitments, values and emotional well-being over helping other with theirs, the easier it gets. You get more aware you are of what you want and don't want, you feel less guilt about it, you're less easily sucked into things, you learn who your friends are and you stop needing to be a 'perfect person'. If a psychologist has described you as an empath, then you need to Google/learn about: C-PTSD (there is a good book called 'from surviving to thriving) Internal and external boundaries Self compassion instead of self esteem Assertiveness Emotional processing of inappropriate guilt (another book- Letting Go by David Hawkins) Narcissistic personality disorder and scapegoating if your family dynamics were pretty rough and volatile (I don't recommend Richard Grannon- he's very hung up on the idea, based on his experiences as a victim, that these people are evil, and is not a psychologist and doesn't recognise NPD is a consequence of C-PTSD, although I agree with him that it's better to stay away from these people and ABSOLUTELY NOT attempt to fix them)

I don't really believe in that to be honest. Like it's some sort of gene of a person. I used to believe I was when I was in the new age, and I believe it's just a new agey word to be honest. I believe people have different personality traits and some people can be very caring towards others, they have an awareness of other's feelings and body language. 😊