i feel like i have way way way too much empathy. I just feel everything too much, and it is overwhelming and uncomfortable. As a consequence of this, people can think Im kind of cold and too blunt.
It seems to me, ironically, that i come off as cold because i am actually overwhelmed with empathy. Im very guarded. I am very selective as to who or what i allow myself to feel? If that makes sense?
its like i cherry pick where my empathetic attention should go. OF course in life, you cant always cherry pick what you feel.
However- just cause i feel it, it doesn't necessarily mean that i care. Its not sympathy, its empathy.
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Do any of yall know what an empath is ? i think this article is amazing, and led me to actually having the courage to be honest with myself about excepting my ASD.
This was posted in the other Empaths Alike group: groups.myspace.com/empathsalike
by Prince of Plasma
However the theory behind being an empath I see is actually quite an illusion. There is actually a medical term for our condition. It is a form of Autism known as Asperger Syndrome.
Empathy is really like the mythological counterpart to Asperger Syndrome (AS). Whereas AS is a medical term, Empathy is a mythological term. People with Asperger Syndrome (Aspies) have very deep-thinking brains and are very sensitive to their environment. Basically, regular brains can think lightly about lots of different topics at once, but Autists can only think deeply of one thing at a time. Whereas a regular brain skims lightly across a multitude of subjects, Autists think so deeply, we are often said to be living in our own world or on cloud nine. As a result, we learn a lot more about things than regular brains, and often have an above-average intelligence. But because we focus so deeply on our topics of interest (called Obsessions) then other facets of life which involve more dynamic thinking are difficult to us, such as functioning in groups, holding a regualr job and social life comfortably, or even washing every day. We are so focused on our obsessions that these "every day" activities are put aside in second place.
Now, because our brains are so deep, we notice so many things that a normal brain does not. We hone in on facial expressions, body language, words, objects, everything. We get a lot more information from any situation than an ordinary person needs. As a result, if there are too many people present, or situations start to proceed when we are not expecting it, we experience a sensory overload, which often turns to anxiety, confusion, fear and anger, or alternatively, extreme excitement. We are very easily affected by our surroundings, because we see so much in the simplest of things, whereas other would only see a simple and uninteresting thing.
(Both types of brains are useful for different tasks, together we can work as a team, but in order to do that, both types need to be officially recognised for their strengths and weaknesses.)
It is why we empaths can be so emotional, cry at the sunshine or rain, or at movies, because the simplest little things mean so much to us.
The trouble is, that this level of sensitivity isn’t always good for us socially, because where other people don’t see it, and if we are not understood for having the gifts we have, it can cause pretty bad social situations for us, we can become very twisted, hurt and mistrustful of people, and we can even be outcast from society completely if we put too many feet wrong. It’s not ours or other peoples fault, we both just have very differently-thinking kinds of brains. Both are necessary to a complete society and are perfectly natural states of mind. People who promote that these differences are a good thing, promote what is known as Neuro-diversity, a bit like cultural-diversity.
(This is all documented medically as a form of Autism. In official descriptions, it can sound a bit boring and vague, but once you start talking to others with the condition, reading about the subject and peoples experiences, you will soon realise like I have that Empathy and Asperger’s is one and the same.)
Now a big trouble we often encounter socially is when we express out theories of how we think other people think and feel, to normal people who have quick thinking dynamic brains as opposed to our slower deep-thinking brains. While we are often correct, other peoples brains simply do not go deep enough to be able to compute this information. They will often have a bad reaction if we are too forthright with them. In good cases we will be locally respected as a wise, considerate person who is able to solve problems.
I'm supposed to be "too sensitive." But from what I am reading you got me beat...I'd be visiting you to cheer ya up...but then I'd be crying out of empathy too! 
