The Empath Intuition Connection. Benefits of Hypersensitivity

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Author: Maj

Last Updated: March 18, 2024

You know what I mean by picking up vibes, feeling the pain of others and at times, feeling like you don’t belong…if you’re an intuitive empath. You might feel cursed by it, but let’s look at intuition and other blessings of this predicament.

intuition empath and other benefits blessings fo the intuitive empath

I hail from the hypersensitive crowd. I avoid social media and news. I can’t watch movies or TV series with segments of pain infliction and I feel the urge to flee shops or other places that are crowded or disorganized. These are just some of the experiences I recognize in myself.

Empaths can’t take violent or scary movies. And violence against animals is just unbearable to watch or hear about.
Judith Orloff, psychiatrist and author

Here I look at empaths and intuition and the blessings endowed, while not discounting the unpleasantries that come with it. Like…absorbing energies from others that drain you. You might get depressed, uninspired and unmotivated and may not know why. It took me years to work it out.

She told me I was an intuitive empath…it was liberating to know there wasn’t something ‘wrong’ with me
Judith Orloff, psychiatrist and author

Happy empaths know how to ground themselves, de-stimulate, and calm the senses. Just being around vibrant others will uplift you.

It’s not always possible to guard against negative energies. Especially, you’ll find people with problems are drawn to you because you empathise with how they feel, you feel the hurt. In this case, you need to recognise your need, care for yourself, and take time out for self care. This might have to be a daily habit.

Let’s look at the highly intuitive empath.

Empaths have a high level of intuition

According to psychologist, Dr Judith Orloff, “empaths possess all of that [high sensitivity to all sensory elements] plus a high level of intuition“.¹

Orloff talks of her own experience as an empath with intuition where she had a premonition about a client that proved correct.

The benefit of intuition, she says, is that you can use it to help other people. A lot of successful people use intuition to guide their decisions even.

Empathy vs intuitive

You can have empathy without being intuitive.

I wrote about what it means to be intuitive in my article that explains the five basic traits. Women are considered more intuitive.

As for empathy, everybody has some capacity for it. Consider it a spectrum where everyday folk sit in the middle. They display empathy for other people’s pain or joy.

And then there’s the empath, who is much higher in the spectrum. The empaths are who psychiatrist Judith Orloff considers to have a high level of intuition.

Empaths and genes

Is being an empath genetic?

A certain degree of difference between people in how they empathise appears to relate to genetics, according to an article in Nature Journal. So there are studies backing this up.

Being empathic seems often to run in families and Dr Orloff believes there’s a genetic connection.

But separating nature and nurture is not straightforward. Like most features of human behaviour, it’s probably a play from both. Meaning, nurture might bring out what nature endowed but which lay dormant until experiences bring it to light.

Benefits of being an empath

Intuition is a remarkable power owned by empaths. Like Orloff’s experience, empaths often pick up a vibe after meeting someone new or entering surroundings that turns out to be true.

Empaths more often have heightened responsiveness when it comes to potential dangers and opportunities that could benefit others, according to a 2014 study published in Brain and Behaviour by clinical research psychologist Elaine Aron and her colleagues.

There’s research to say that empaths can benefit from music and other stimuli more than others with increased activation of the reward area of the brain. And Orloff recognises empathy as a higher-evolved feature “important to the salvation of the human race”.

A small but growing body of neuro-scientific research confirms the existence of “empaths” and “highly sensitive people”.
Linda Moon, naturopath and freelance writer

Final thoughts

Rather than shun it, why not celebrate empathy and embrace and develop your intuition for the insights it brings? But make sure to also develop self-care protocols to recharge your energy and shield yourself from adverse associations.