Excerpted from Dr. Judith Orloff’s book, The Empath’s Survival Guide: Life Strategies for Sensitive People.
Are You an Empath?
To find out, take the following 20-question self-assessment, answering “mostly yes” or “mostly no” to each question.
Empath Self-Assessment
- Have I been labeled as “overly sensitive,” shy, or introverted?
- Do I frequently get overwhelmed or anxious?
- Do arguments or yelling make me ill?
- Do I often feel like I don’t fit in?
- Am I drained by crowds and need alone time to revive myself?
- Am I over stimulated by noise, odors, or non-stop talkers?
- Do I have chemical sensitivities or can’t tolerate scratchy clothes?
- Do I prefer taking my own car places so I can leave early if I need to?
- Do I overeat to cope with stress?
- Am I afraid of becoming suffocated by intimate relationships?
- Do I startle easily?
- Do I react strongly to caffeine or medications?
- Do I have a low pain threshold?
- Do I tend to socially isolate?
- Do I absorb other people’s stress, emotions, or symptoms?
- Am I overwhelmed by multitasking and prefer doing one thing at a time?
- Do I replenish myself in nature?
- Do I need a long time to recuperate after being with difficult people or energy vampires?
- Do I feel better in small cities or the country than large cities?
- Do I prefer one-to-one interactions or small groups rather than large gatherings?
Calculate your results:
- If you answered yes to one to five questions, you’re at least partially an empath.
- Responding yes to six to ten questions means you have moderate empathic tendencies.
- Responding yes to eleven to fifteen means you have strong empathic tendencies.
- Answering yes to more than fifteen questions means that you are a full blown empath.
Determining if you’re an empath will clarify your needs and which strategies to use to meet them. This is essential to gain a comfort zone in your life.
