“..We feel your pain: Extreme empaths..”
“..Horror films are simply a disconcerting watch for the majority of us ..
.. but for Jane Barrett they are literally torturous.
She writhes in agony whenever the actors on the screen feel pain.
“When I see violence in films I have an extreme reaction,” she says.
“I simply have to close my eyes.
I start to feel nauseous and have to breathe deeply.”
She is just one of many people who suffer from a range of disorders that give rise to “extreme empathy”.
Some of these people, like Barrett, empathise so strongly with others that they experience the same physical feelings -
- whether it’s the tickle of a feather .. or the cut of a knife.
Others, who suffer from a disorder known as echopraxia ..
.. just can’t help immediately imitating the actions of others .. even in inappropriate situations.
Far from being mere curiosities, understanding these conditions could have many pay-offs for neuroscience ..
.. such as illuminating conditions like phantom pain.
They may even help answer the age-old question of whether empathy really is linked to compassion..”
go to source/story>>We feel your pain: Extreme empaths - 10 March 2010 - New Scientist