Part of cPTSD for me has been being hyper-aware of others emotions. As a child it meant my survival to read the mood of those responsible for my care and adapt my behavior. This was necessary for continued feeding and housing but has not served me well as an adult. Walking into a room and picking up on non-verbal emotional cues as well as tones of voice imperceptible to others was overwhelming.
Since beginning my Out of the FOG journey and working on cPTSD I've come some way in balancing empathy with being empath. Still I've got a way to go yet in this journey.
This series of articles is just what I need:
http://karlamclaren.com/the-six-essential-aspects-of-empathy-part-1-emotion-contagion/
Obviously as an empath I was stuck in Emotion Contagion but the other aspects of empathy being so well defined and the articles that follow may help get me target recovery and balance my emotional wellbeing in this area.
(If you're unfamiliar with the concept of empathy vs empath see this thread here.
http://outofthefog.net/C-PTSD/forum/index.php?topic=1810.msg15853#msg15853)
I had that weird experience of feeling like I had written your post as I read it Butterfly. I get that a lot here lol! ;D It so resonates with me about being an Empath. I always wanted an off switch as I could not stay in my skin, too caught up externally, too "other referenced". rather than "self-referenced."
Tks for the links! :hug:
Thanks so much for this Butterfly!
It's a journey for sure!