Empathy means to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and share their feelings. Sometimes, it may be difficult for you to completely understand what someone else is going through, but it is always better to acknowledge their pain and feelings instead of feeling sorry for them. This is where empathy failure comes in the picture.
What is Empathy Failure?
Empathy failure is when a person understands the basic concept of empathy but cannot truly practice empathy in their daily lives. There are some common examples of empathic failure, such as when a friend is in pain and you tell them ”it’s okay” or “it’ll be fine” instead of validating their feelings. Even though you said that with positive intent, your words could still hurt them.
Empathy failure can be recognized and worked upon in such situations, especially when the person you feel empathy towards is of a similar background or someone close to you. You can truly practice empathy by doing something as small as admitting that you may never fully understand their pain, but you will be there for them. They can vent in front of you, and you will listen, not provide solutions or state the obvious that things would get better. You will simply acknowledge their pain.
However, things can get a bit tricky when you and the person in question do not share the same background. Professionals have researched the said topic and found out how people behave a certain way when they see someone in pain from a different background.
How Does That Work?
The first situation could be where you may feel more empathy towards a poor person than someone rich but is going through almost the same sort of pain. This happens not because you feel bad for the poor person, but because humans find it difficult to feel bad for someone who has the upper hand. The reason for it could be money or power, but being at a position higher than you can affect how you identify that person’s pain.
Another way in which this is practiced is by people in power themselves. You may have witnessed at some point in your life, but research also suggests that people in power or filthy rich do not tend to feel the pain of someone who is not from their class.
How Can Empathy Failure be Good?
While it is certain that we as humans need to be more empathetic towards others and practice empathy in its true essence, it can be difficult too. The world we live in is a cruel place, and injustice is something extremely common. If you find it difficult to set boundaries for yourself, you will end up draining your mind over everything and anything that happens around you.
We would recommend that you go for alternative healing methods for your health for people in such a situation. Try a more holistic approach, like reiki. To further read on the subject or better understand it, you can always come to us at Ignite Energy Group!