Are empaths more prone to illness?

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Are highly sensitive people more prone to illness?

 

Yes, sensitive people, whom I call empaths in The Empath’s Survival Guide, are more prone to symptoms and empathic illness because they tend to be acutely sensitive and absorb what is around them in their environment. Empathic illnesses are those in which you manifest symptoms that are not your own. Many patients have come to me labeled“agoraphobic” with panic disorders, chronic depression, fatigue, pain, or mysterious ailments that respond only partially to medications or psychotherapy. Some were nearly housebound or ill for years. They’d all say, “I dread being in crowds. Other people’s anger, stress, and pain drain me, and I need a lot of alone time to refuel my energy.” When I took a close history of all these patients I found that they were what I call “physical empaths:” people whose bodies are so porous they absorb the symptoms of others. As a sensitive person, it’s vital that you practice the strategies I suggest in the book to manage your energy such as clear boundary setting, alone time, meditation, being in nature, calming yourself down–all this decreases stress, which can help your health issues!

Wishing you good health,
Judith

 

Judith Orloff, MD is the New York Times bestselling author of The Empath’s Survival Guide: Life Strategies for Sensitive People. Her companion book Thriving as an Empath offers daily self-care tools for sensitive people along with The Empath’s Empowerment Journal. Her latest journal is Affirmations for Empaths. Dr. Orloff is a psychiatrist, an empath, and is on the UCLA Psychiatric Clinical Faculty. She blends the pearls of conventional medicine with cutting edge knowledge of intuition, empathy, energy medicine, and spirituality. Dr. Orloff specializes in treating empaths and highly sensitive people in her private practice and online internationally. Her work has been featured on The Today Show, CNN, Oprah Magazine, the New York Times and USA Today. Dr. Orloff has spoken at Google-LA, TEDx U.S. and TEDx Gateway Asia. Her other books are Emotional Freedom, The Power of Surrender, Second Sight, Positive Energy, and Guide to Intuitive Healing. More information about Dr. Orloff’s Empathy Training Programs for businesses, The Empath Survival Guide Online Course and speaking schedule at www.drjudithorloff.com.

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