Empath

In psychology, empaths (from Ancient Greek: ἐμπάθ(εια), romanized: e̓mpáth(eia); IPA: /ˈɛm.pæθ/) are people who have a higher than usual level of empathy, called hyperempathy.[1] While objective empathy level testing is difficult, tests such as the EQ-8 have gained some acceptance as tests for being empathic.[2][3] Highly sensitive person is also often synonymous,[4] but is also used to describe sensory processing sensitivity.

In parapsychology, the mechanism for being an empath is claimed to be psychic channeling; psychics and mediums claim to channel the emotional states and experiences of other living beings or the spirits of dead people in the form of "emotional resonance".

The term empath is sometimes used in a broader sense to describe someone who is more adept at understanding, i.e. is more sensitive to the feelings of others than the average person, or as a descriptor for someone who is higher on an empathetic "spectrum" of sorts.[5] Seen this way, an empath is someone who can perceive, understand, or share the feelings of another person, without necessarily believing said feelings are being directly communicated to them through some as yet unknown "second sight" mechanism or telepathic channel.[6]