Empathy and low EQ score

Um, I'm not certain as to whether you would _like_ to know as to what Class A drugs are - and that's because they're really very horrible indeed! (Please don't search for them via means of the internet because you will immediately regret doing so!) What's important: I'm really very glad that the empathogens which you are taking are indeed legal substances, because really quite unfortunately most of them are not! (It's important to note that this could very well be a cultural difference, being so that I might've been educated differently on as to what empathogens are!) :-) Also, what is it that you mean by the term: "Supplements". I think I know as to what you are referring to, as in to say: "Supplements are a term of which generally describes something that is added to enhance, complete, or support something else." But I'm not exactly certain. Salutations! :-)

That's quite a good illustration of the 3 types of empathy.

My only criticism is the word "desire". Although I have emotional empathy, I don't have any desire to feel that way, in fact it often causes me distress. And an autistic person may desire to understand and give help and support, when they cannot.

Sometimes I think that some NT people believe that desiring to do something enables you to actually do it. Maybe that's true for them, maybe it's another difference we have?

That's cool. I don't know what class A drugs means. Is that a kind of medicine? Don't really know what that is but yeh I said supplements in my message so thought it was obvious I was talking about supplements lol.

I wouldn't let test results weigh on you too much, they tend to be slanted. I have alexithymia so my emotions are a bit of a mystery, oddly I pick up on the emotions of others and it can be a bit overwhelming.

Do you care about others, even if it's in a slightly muted way, if the answer is yes then you don't have a problem.

I like your handle/screen name, the whole Blade Runner monologue in that scene really strikes a chord.

I really do hope that you are referring to the controlled taking of MDMA under therapy, because otherwise I have a rather quite burning suspicion that you might be consuming widely illegal class-A drugs! Which would be really very bad indeed and I feel quite weird about! But, on a positive note, I'm a really very glad that they've helped you to both understand as to why your EQ might have been lower than others' and as to why, at a deeper level, that is or rather was! :-) I've just realized that this sounds to be so very rude indeed - I can just be really quite blunty and harsh in my speech/and the way in which I talk. I didn't mean anything rude by it - I promise. I'm just speaking as me. :-)

I wouldn't overthink it tearsintherain it's just an online test besides it's a well known fact that autistic individuals have great challenges with many mental facets including but not limited to empathising with others. Just be a nice person as much as you can okay. Autistic people aren't bad inherently in my opinion. I believe autistic people have good hearts. It's just that they/we lack the mental capacity and cognitive ability to access higher emotional states like enhanced empathy and greater mind to mind understanding. You can't do anything about this though. So just accept that your view of the world has been altered because your mind is altered autism. Be a nice person as much as you can and work on your empathising abilities. I have worked on my empathy deficits by consuming empathogens. They provided some useful insight into why I am the way I am so that I could accept this way I am. By empathogens I mean supplements that have been shown to enhance empathy.

There is also the impact of autistic people not reacting in the accepted neurotypical way. My standard response to someone I know well being visibly distressed, would not be giving a hug and saying 'there-there' type meaningless phrases, I would try to find out what was causing the distress and give advice about how to solve or lessen the problem. My concern and willingness to help are exactly the same as anyone else's, but how I express it might be unusual.

Do you mean "less than" I was before, or "less than" others? Although either way, the answer is no. I understand why people might feel that way, but I've never felt that there was anything wrong with me, I just had the realisation that I hadn't completely understood how I was different to neurotypical people in terms of empathy. As I'd already learnt a lot about my differences, it was just another one to take on board.

Agree

Thanks. Unfortunately it did get to me. Developing more empathy as you get older is interesting. It can be taught or learnt.

Although, that shows that you are concerned about others and their perceptions - whether for personal or social reasons I don't know - but that sounds like a form of empathy to me!

It has definitely caused insight and awareness. I suppose I am concerned at how others view me on knowing that I have a low EQ score.

I get very distressed by other's emotional state also. The problem, I think, is that public perception doesn't distinguish between the two types of empathy.

Yes, a Blade Runner fan. Disappointment I agree with, and curiousity. Did you feel less than?

There are various empathy tests out there and there are various types of empathy. The EQ is weighted towards testing cognitive empathy - working out what other people are feeling. This is the type of empathy that autistic people have the most difficulty with. I did a test that was designed to test a whole battery of empathy types - including emotional empathy - feeling what another person is feeling. I scored low on cognitive empathy, but high on all other forms of empathy, and my overall empathy score was significantly higher than the neurotypical average. Cognitive empathy is not all important.

I and many other autistics can be so affected by the distress of others that we freeze-up. Not perhaps the most useful reaction in a practical sense, but profound nonetheless.

I suppose, for me, it depends upon whether it is upsetting to read and think about the test result, versus, does it manifest as a problem in my day-to-day life - a feature which had previously been an upsetting mystery - and if it does: are there work around techniques which I am prepared to trial or adopt?

I think it can be helpful to view such tests as indicative and informing insight and awareness (rather than pejorative).

From 2049 which was ace too.

Let's move on to system. System.

Feel that in your body. The system.

What does it feel like to be part of the system. System.

Is there anything in your body that wants to resist the system? System.

Do you get pleasure out of being a part of the system? System.

Have they created you to be a part of the system? System.

Is there security in being a part of the system? System.

Is there a sound that comes with the system? System.

We're going to go on. Cells.

They were all put together at a time. Cells.

Millions and billions of them. Cells.

Were you ever arrested? Cells.

Did you spend much time in the cell? Cells.

Have you ever been in an instituion? Cells.

Do they keep you in a cell? Cells.

When you're not performing your duties do they keep you in a little box? Cells.

Interlinked.

I got a really low score and was very annoyed because I put in lots of effort trying to fathom the whole "emotions" thing and learn the rules, signs and signifiers for how people deal with and display them, even though I don't really "get" it.

...then I realised that the fact I have to put in so much effort probably means the low score is correct

Am I being un-empathetic if I say I don't really see the issue?   My feeling is that it is what it is, and unless you want to force yourself to try to understand the nuances of feeling that everyone 'may' have with every single issue, I'd really not let it get to you.

However, you aren't taking it that way, and are clearly viewing it as something personal.  I know someone who would regard this news as being fortunate - so there's a totally different way of coming at it.  Too much empathy can be a burdensome thing. 

It is probably good to have some understanding - objectivity - of how others might feel - but it can take over.  You can also tend to develop more empathy as you get older, so there's that. 

Just some thoughts.