What happened to empathy

[Iammesues]

So many of us hide our sadness from others. Aren’t we hiding due to the lack of empathy? The lack of knowing someone who will really listen, put themselves in your shoes, and empathize with their heart. We are not hiding because we have a secret, we hide because empathy does not exist anymore in mankind

[JaggedEdge]

YES. This is why I stay silent and it is killing me. I called the suicide hotline and lost my courage and hung up. Thank you for your ability to put to words what I cannot.

[Iammesues in reply to JaggedEdge]

It’s like our personal empathy for ourselves needs to be enough and this is the part we are struggling with. Being everything for ourselves because there is no empathy worthy of us sharing. That’s a lot of pressure on ourselves, right?

[3crazydogs in reply to JaggedEdge]

I want to acknowledge you... for you to have the courage to pick up the phone for the suicide hotline is so powerful. I would imagine that is the one place where someone will provide the support ( empathy) needed. I don’t think I have the tools to help, but want to encourage you to reach out people who are trained to help you at this critical point.

[Hidden in reply to JaggedEdge]

Hi. Can you do me a favor and call them again (and this time don't hang up) if you need to? You deserve to feel okay. Might I make a suggestion? Write down what you want to talk about before you call and just read it off. True, it might not sound genuine to read off something you wrote, but if you need help you need help. You deserve to get help. You matter. Take care of yourself, okay? We all care.

[Hidden]

Hello

It is sad but very true

Everything in the world has changed and people I think are all about me , me , me as long as they are alright no one else matters

I suppose through all this suffering we go through one thing that it has made me is to have empathy and even when I don't always understand I try and imagine what it must be like to walk in someone else's shoes

At least there is empathy for each other in these Communities , so even if we have to hide in the real world because of how others are we have some where we can come and know people will put themselves in our shoes and show us kindness

I hope you are keeping as well as you can be

Take Care x

[Impermanence]

Totally agree. however, I find this is a dilemma we face...

[Audiomarc1]

I think empathy has its place with people you can count on, not to judge you. I have lost most of my trust with people. But isn't great to come across someone in your daily life that actually cares about your issues. You hear it in their words and in their eyes. In these very bad times you can share empathy with the right person or persons. I still have my empathy for someone or something that needs it. It's certainly one thing they can't take from me. Stay physically and mentally well to all.

[Iammesues in reply to Audiomarc1]

It is great if you meet someone empathetic. Rare at most

[SongAndSoul]

I think you are in a safe place to find a Empathy here. 😊

I agree that we, as a society, are losing our Empathy and that is very sad for mankind.

Those of us with Empathy also need to guard our hearts because many choose to take advantage of us.

Selfish people are very attracted to empathetic people and will mirror it to secure a relationship, but it is fake. 😔

[Audiomarc1 in reply to SongAndSoul]

Yes. It's become a "me" society. There was a time when it mostly was an "us" society. But, we've got our group society here, where most of us care about one another. I find it comforting to belong to such an "us" group.

[Iammesues in reply to Audiomarc1]

Me too

[Cantdealanymore]

Yes

[SunIsShining]

I don’t think it’s that. For me at least, I hide my vulnerabilities because those around me, the closest to me and also the ones abusing me, showed no empathy so as a coping mechanism I stopped talking about them. I’ve even gotten to the point where I subconsciously suppress any emotions to avoid opening myself up to any sort of negative feedback

[Iammesues in reply to SunIsShining]

We agreed with you. The lack of empathy causes us to keep our thoughts to ourselves

[Hidden]

People these days are self-absorbed. When people migrated to America, families stuck together, lived in the same house and took care of each other. Now, it's everybody for themselves. If everything is not positive, people don't want to hear it. I believe our culture is addictive to positive. God forbid you tell anybody your having a bad day, you're considered a downer. My mom doesn't care. She had zero empathy. Her husband, my Step-dad is her first priority.