Emotional Empathy

[Shawn Ellis]

Is it possible to learn emotional empathy and feel a connection with others?

 

[PerpetuallyStuck]

I think so. I mean, if you were in an accident or something alongside other people, you'd all have experienced the same situation, and surely you'd feel bad for yourself and the others for what you'd been through.

 

[shayshere]

My guess is that depends on the person. I don't think learning emotional empathy would be possible for me, or for people who are wired the same way I am. Who knows, maybe it could be possible somehow in the future, but I doubt if everyone would even be willing to learn, or to put effort in learning it.

 

[pigeons]

Feeling bad even though im cold is confusing i care and dont care my heads all messed i miss not feeling bad

 

[karl7]

yeah its definitely possible to learn empathy

 

[wraziel]

Yes. I'm so empathic with the friendly people of this forum.

 

[Zoe1]

some people find that a pet
will help them to love and be loved

 

[WhySoSerious]

This is a really interesting question. If you look at many ASPD people they can LOOK LIKE they have empathy when actually they don't FEEL it. Much of this is about mimicking/copying the emotional responses of others in situations and then reciting it back to the person they are "empathising" with. Much in the same way that some autistic people mask their own emotions and mirror the feelings of others to get into friendships (particularly females with autism which is very different to the male presentation).

There is not a huge amount of evidence that ASPD individuals can "learn" empathy which is why they are generally not treated within mainstream MH services. I guess you can begin the process by asking people how another person may feel in a situation (mentalising) but most of the time people without empathy know what they SHOULD feel but simply don't.

Empathy is a pro-social emotion. The function is to bring us closer to other people so that we can feel part of a group and the subsequent "holding" and security that brings us. That is effective if we want social contacts. The problem comes when the non-empathic individual doesn't actually care for others socially or emotionally. There is no drive for them to feel empathy because it is redundant.