Hyper-empathy
Hyper-empathy refers to a person having heightened empathy. Reasons and experiences of hyper-empathy vary. Some autistic people have reported experiencing hyper-empathy. In psychopathology, hyper-empathy is viewed as a symptom of a neurological disorder.
The term empath is sometimes used in a broader sense to describe someone who is more adept at understanding, i.e. is more sensitive to the feelings of others than the average person; or as a descriptor for someone who is higher on an empathetic "spectrum" of sorts.[1]
Autism
[edit]Academic literature has long associated autism with empathy deficits.[2] According to Dr. Lauren Breese, this was a "deeply flawed view".[3] A 2024 study collected the experiences of a diverse group of 76 autistic people and found that there was a high proportion of hyper-empathic experiences.[4]
Psychopathology
[edit]In neuropsychology, "hyper empathy" has also been described as a dysfunctional empathic emotional overreaction. Some researchers have suggested that hyper-empathy might arise as a consequence of a lack of emotion regulation and hyperactivation of the amygdala.[5]
A paper published in 2013 reported on a case of a patient who became hyper-empathic after receiving resective epilepsy surgery, a form of brain surgery. The patient's behavioral modification remained unchanged for 13 years.[6]
Neuroscientists have found evidence to suggest that some people have greater or lesser ability to share and feel the emotions of others.[7][8] Mirror neurons are neurons that fire both when an animal acts and when the animal observes the same action performed by another. Interfering with the level of activation of mirror neurons via transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has been experimentally studied.[9]
Dark empath
[edit]A dark empath is a person with high levels of empathy (usually cognitive), and has high levels of offensive personality traits (such as the dark triad). The term originates from a recent 2021 paper by Nadja Heym and others. In a study of 991 participants, Heym and other researchers identified four key personality groups: Dark Triad (DT) individuals, who have high dark traits and low empathy; Dark Empaths, who share high dark traits but also have high empathy; Empaths, who have high empathy and low dark traits; and Typicals, who have average empathy and low dark traits. While Dark Empaths share some dark traits with the DT group, they are less aggressive, more extroverted, and have better mental well-being. Despite their empathy, DEs aren't more vulnerable to mental health issues and retain some antagonistic tendencies, though they are generally more agreeable than those with high dark traits. Overall, the study suggests that Dark Empaths are a distinct group with a mix of positive and negative traits, showing that high empathy doesn't necessarily make someone less capable of having dark, manipulative tendencies.[10]
In popular culture
[edit]
- In Olivia Butler's Parable of the Sower the main character suffers from a fictional condition called hyperempathy.[11] In the sequel, Parable of the Talents, she describes the condition:
Hyperempathy syndrome is a delusional disorder, after all. There's no telepathy, no magic, no deep spiritual awareness. There's just the neurochemically induced delusion that I feel the pain and pleasure that I see others experiencing. Pleasure is rare, pain is plentiful, and delusional or not, it hurts like hell.[12]
- Yuliya Liberman hypothesized that if Brain-to-Brain communication becomes a reality, then two people who share "memories, thoughts, and feelings with each other for a long period of time" could develop "a type of hyper-empathy" that might lead to some loss of individuality.[13]
- Online, self-describing empaths are sometimes mocked for using the moniker. Shane Dawson was mocked for using the term to describe himself after a poorly-received apology YouTube video in 2018.[14]
References
[edit]- ^ Thomson, Helen (10 March 2010). "We feel your pain: Extreme empaths". New Scientist. doi:10.1016/s0262-4079(11)61228-1. ISSN 0262-4079. Archived from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
- ^ Hume, Romy; Burgess, Henry (September 2021). ""I'm Human After All": Autism, Trauma, and Affective Empathy". Autism in Adulthood. 3 (3): 221–229. doi:10.1089/aut.2020.0013. ISSN 2573-9581. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
- ^ Breese, Lauren. "The Double Empathy Problem". The Neurodiversity Practice. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
- ^ Kimber, Lesley; Verrier, Diarmuid; Connolly, Stephen (September 2024). "Autistic People's Experience of Empathy and the Autistic Empathy Deficit Narrative". Autism in Adulthood. 6 (3): 321–330. doi:10.1089/aut.2023.0001. ISSN 2573-9581. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
- ^ Shamay-Tsoory, Simone; Harari, Hagai; Szepsenwol, Ohad; Levkovitz, Yechiel (January 2009). "Neuropsychological Evidence of Impaired Cognitive Empathy in Euthymic Bipolar Disorder". The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences. 21 (1): 59–67. doi:10.1176/jnp.2009.21.1.59. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
- ^ Richard-Mornas, Aurélie; and Thomas-Antérion, Catherine (2 November 2014). "Emergence of hyper empathy after right amygdalohippocampectomy". Neurocase. 20 (6): 666–670. doi:10.1080/13554794.2013.826695. ISSN 1355-4794. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
- ^ Winerman, Lea (2005). "The mind's mirror". American Psychological Association. doi:10.1037/e418612005-033. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
- ^ Banissy, Michael J.; Ward, Jamie (July 2007). "Mirror-touch synesthesia is linked with empathy". Nature Neuroscience. 10 (7): 815–816. doi:10.1038/nn1926. ISSN 1546-1726. PMID 17572672. S2CID 1345360.
- ^ Armstrong, Kim (29 December 2017). "'I Feel Your Pain': The Neuroscience of Empathy". Association for Psychological Science Observer. 31. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
- ^ Heym, N., Kibowski, F., Bloxsom, C. A., Blanchard, A., Harper, A., Wallace, L., ... & Sumich, A. (2021). The Dark Empath: Characterising dark traits in the presence of empathy. Personality and individual differences, 169, 110172.
- ^ Messimer, MaryKate (2023). "Hyperobjects and Hyperempathy in Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower". Apocalyptic California: Gender in Climate Fiction. Springer Nature Switzerland: 65–89. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-29920-9_4. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
- ^ Wanzo, Rebecca (2005). "Apocalyptic Empathy: A "Parable" of Postmodern Sentimentality". Obsidian III. 6/7: 72–86. ISSN 1542-1619. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
- ^ Liberman, Yuliya (Fall 2024). "Brain–to–Brain Communication: Hyper–Empathy and Identity" (PDF). Penn Bioethics Journal (PBJ). XX (ii): 16–21. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
- ^ Johnson, Chloe (23 February 2022). "Huge numbers of TikTokers are identifying as 'an empath,' spawning a new meme that mocks the trend". Insider. Retrieved 14 January 2023.