Empathy Is Not A Psychic Ability

By Anthon St. Maarten

There is the fashionable notion these days for individuals to be branded as 'psychics' or 'empaths' if they are emotionally sensitive, or display a high level of compassion towards others. It is automatically assumed that people who are emotionally highly intelligent must also have an exceptional capacity for extra-sensory perception (ESP). Nothing could be further from the truth.

If anything, I believe this myth is only serving to confuse and mislead people, and may even cause further emotional damage, by imposing unreasonable expectations on some highly sensitive or even emotionally vulnerable people.

I had many traumatic paranormal experiences in my childhood, and I was constantly overwhelmed by extra-sensory perceptions I did not understand. To find reliable information on the subject in those days was near impossible. The confusion and frustration I had to endure in my youth - often due to the ignorance of others - made me vow to research, learn and share as much as I could about psychic abilities. If I can spare just one gifted child unnecessary trauma, or inspire just one adult to come out of the ‘clair closet’, the bewilderment I had to endure would all be worth it. Thus, the reason for this article.

Please know that natural human empathy has not become such a scarce commodity that it now needs to be classified as a paranormal phenomenon. It is also not a psychic ability that must be developed or applied at all cost. If empathy really has become such a rare trait, then our society is in much greater jeopardy than we may suspect (see below).

People who do not display empathy are considered by the medical profession to be abnormal, or disordered. A lack of empathy is a common characteristic found in the Cluster B Personality Disorders in the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), especially in those diagnosed with Antisocial and Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

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