Psychology Today: Help Arrives for Mirror-Touch Synesthetes

Are you an empath? Take the test here to determine your empath score.

Summary of Article

Synesthesia is a neurologically-based condition in which a person experiences a crossed response to different stimuli such as sight and sound. Synesthetes can hear colors, feel sounds and taste shapes. It is estimated that 4 percent of the population can perceive the world with this blending of senses. Many synesthetes are empaths (although not all empaths are synesthetes).

Empaths are highly sensitive people who absorb the stresses and emotions of others into their bodies. Coupling mirror-touch synesthesia with the extreme empathy that empaths have can be frustrating for those that experience it.

In this Psychology Today article, I share questions to help you determine if you are an empath and then offer tips to manage the positive and challenging aspects of this heightened sensitivity.

Judith Orloff, MD is a New York Times bestselling author whose books include The Genius of Empathy: Practical Tools to Heal Yourself, Your Relationships and the World, The Empath’s Survival Guide, and Thriving as an Empath, which presents daily self-care tools for sensitive people. Her upcoming children’s book The Highly Sensitive Rabbit is about a caring rabbit who learns to embrace her gifts of sensitivity through the love and support of other animals. A UCLA Psychiatric Clinical Faculty Member, she blends the pearls of conventional medicine with cutting-edge knowledge of intuition, empathy, and energy. Dr. Orloff specializes in treating 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 and TEDx. Explore more at www.drjudithorloff.com

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