A common topic of conversation regarding mental health is the importance of empathising with others and/or showing compassion in the context of interpersonal relationships.
In point of fact, one of the most important aspects of jointly caring for our well-being is the capacity to accept other people in their state of suffering and to cultivate the skill of listening in order to provide support to other people.
The question is, however, whether empathy and compassion are two different things.
These are three distinct emotions, yet they are closely connected: empathy, sympathy, and compassion are all examples of these feelings. Their discrepancies are broken down into simple explanations.
The ability to empathise with other people and to put oneself in their shoes is what we mean when we talk about empathy. As a result of our ability to empathise with him and comprehend the emotions that he could be experiencing, we are able to share his sentiments. Empathy is built on the foundation of understanding.
A friend, for instance, is laid off from his work and is left feeling useless. Empathy is a feeling that we are able to experience because we are able to envisage how we would react if something similar were to happen to us.
On the other hand, because we have a certain degree of objectivity, we experience a more mellowed version of what the other person is actually going through. Due to the fact that we are aware that it is not ourselves who are experiencing the drama, we are able to create a certain distance between ourselves and the feelings that we are experiencing. It is possible to acquire and cultivate empathy.
It is believed that empathy represents our participation in the feelings (whether they are positive or negative) or the suffering of another person. Because we are aware of what other people are going through, we are able to recognise and, at times, experience the things that influence other people.
Additionally, there is still an emotional space that exists between us, which enables us to avoid carrying this feeling on our shoulders. As far as we are concerned, we are sensitive to it. As a result of the acts made towards this individual, they are able to experience happy emotions and a sense of relaxation.
Kindness and compassion
Compassion is a feeling that causes us to be sensitive and moved by the things that happen to other people (their grief, their suffering, their experiences, and so on). We are able to feel the burden. We are so engrossed in the feelings that other people are experiencing that we search for ways to alleviate or console them.
In point of fact, compassion would be equivalent to the transformation of empathy into action. The misery of others is not something that we merely observe and do nothing about; rather, we go through it ourselves and look for ways to make things better. To be compassionate, one must maintain a continuing emotional involvement.
Despite the fact that it is a positive thing to have compassion, we cannot hope for this to continue since the emotional burden is too great.