When Empathy turns Toxic
When we grow up in emotional chaos & feel responsible for others’ feelings, that can become intertwined with our definition of love.
Welcome to Interpersonal!
There’s empathy and then there’s toxic empathy. The first is healthy and allows you to connect authentically with others by recognizing or even feeling their emotions. Toxic empathy, on the other hand, means over-identifying with someone else so much that you can’t distinguish their experiences from your own. This is when empathy turns toxic…for YOU.
Toxic empathy is in many ways intertwined with people-pleasing, in that we are uncomfortable with others experiencing something negative ➡ we absorb those emotions ➡ their emotions become ours ➡ we ignore whatever our own needs/desires/priorities were ➡ we jump to fix their issues.
Sound familiar? I have one word for you:
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Interpersonal: The Newsletter to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.