Hyperempathy

One thing I find ironic is how neurotypicals always say that we have no empathy, when in fact the opposite is true... I have hyper empathy, which is common in autistic people, apparently.

I can pick up people's mood straight away, and I have a particular soft spot for animals. The other day I started watching the documentary "Blackfish" on Netflix about killer whales in captivity, and it caused me immense distress because of how the animals are treated. It took me a while to calm down after that and I still feel a bit sad about it at the moment.

Does anyone else get distressed when watching something sad on TV?

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  • I'm feel like I'm some of both certain things I can be hyperempathetic and other times I'll be hypo, however it fluctuates... it's strange. One consistent thing I have trouble with is animals I can get very emotional about dogs and my dogs if something is wrong.

  • I love dogs, they are my faves. One day I want to own one!

    I can occasionally "switch off" empathy if it gets too much. For example, if I'm talking to someone and they talk about something that upsets me, I just switch off and nod/say "mmm" at the right moments lol. Also, when I was volunteering at a hospital last year, I sort of switched myself off when I was there so I could do my job, and then would get all emotional about all the suffering people when I got home lol

  • They're GREAT! I have Dog de Bordeaux puppy 5 months old. And I cannot tell you how amazing they are for anxiety there's not judgement or opinion just happiness all they want is for their human to be happy and calm. I definitely have extremely low empathy for people it''s very difficult to get me emotional with issues that involve other people I think that's why I don't have friends and my relationships don't work out I just don't understand people very well.

  • I got diagnosed at 30. I never cared about social hierarchy and I have a tendency to call people out on BS, which is probably why people don't like me. Women aren't supposed to have opinions.

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