Excerpted from Dr. Judith Orloff’s book, The Empath’s Survival Guide: Life Strategies for Sensitive People.
Are You an Empath?
To find out, take the following 20-question self-assessment, answering “mostly yes” or “mostly no” to each question.
Empath Self-Assessment
Have I been labeled as “overly sensitive,” shy, or introverted?
Do I frequently get overwhelmed or anxious?
Do arguments or yelling make me ill?
Do I often feel like I don’t fit in?
Am I drained by crowds and need alone time to revive myself?
Am I over stimulated by noise, odors, or non-stop talkers?
Do I have chemical sensitivities or can’t tolerate scratchy clothes?
Do I prefer taking my own car places so I can leave early if I need to?
Do I overeat to cope with stress?
Am I afraid of becoming suffocated by intimate relationships?
Do I startle easily?
Do I react strongly to caffeine or medications?
Do I have a low pain threshold?
Do I tend to socially isolate?
Do I absorb other people’s stress, emotions, or symptoms?
Am I overwhelmed by multitasking and prefer doing one thing at a time?
Do I replenish myself in nature?
Do I need a long time to recuperate after being with difficult people or energy vampires?
Do I feel better in small cities or the country than large cities?
Do I prefer one-to-one interactions or small groups rather than large gatherings?
Calculate your results:
If you answered yes to one to five questions, you’re at least partially an empath.
Responding yes to six to ten questions means you have moderate empathic tendencies.
Responding yes to eleven to fifteen means you have strong empathic tendencies.
Answering yes to more than fifteen questions means that you are a full blown empath.
Judith Orloff, MD is the New York Times bestselling author of The Empath's Survival Guide: Life Strategies for Sensitive People which helps sensitive people to thrive in an often insensitive world. Dr. Orloff is a psychiatrist, an empath, and is on the UCLA Psychiatric Clinical Faculty. She synthesizes the pearls of traditional medicine with cutting edge knowledge of intuition, energy, and spirituality. Dr. Orloff also specializes in treating empaths and highly sensitive people in her private practice. Dr. Orloff’s work has been featured on The Today Show, CNN, and in the Oprah Magazine and USA Today. She is also a Times best-selling author of Emotional Freedom, The Power of Surrender, Second Sight, Positive Energy, and Guide to Intuitive Healing. To learn more about Dr. Orloff and her free empath support newsletter at drjudithorloff.com.
Determining if you’re an empath will clarify your needs and which strategies to use to meet them. This is essential to gain a comfort zone in your life.
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Judith Orloff, MD