People who are attentive and sensitive from nature, sometimes perceive the feelings of others as their own. Empathy is certainly a positive thing, but it can be truly debilitating for someone who is generously endowed with it. Psychologists even distinguish a separate condition called "empathic fatigue", which affects not only your mental, but even your physical health.
Instruction manual
one
Learn to establish healthy boundaries in relationships. Your tendency to compassion sometimes makes you go on actions that are uncomfortable for you in the emotional or physical sense. Remind yourself that your healthy emotions and desires should be prioritized by those that other people project on you.
2
Separate your emotions from others. If you are prone to empathy, it can sometimes be difficult to determine to whom your feelings belong - to you or to your interlocutor? Learn to determine your attitude to events, and not perceive only what your vis-à-vis broadcasts.
3
Remember that other people's emotions are not yours, you are not required to experience them. If you meet someone who deeply and sincerely mourns, you can sympathize with such a person, but you should not continue to be sad after expressing your support and moving on. If someone needs help, your negative emotions will only prevent you from providing it, will not allow you to concentrate and violate the clarity of perception and willingness to set goals and achieve their implementation.
4
Remember that everything you learn is just a story. Be critical. There are things in the world that really deserve sympathy, but no one has any doubts about such incidents - they are sad and tragic. The rest can only be someone’s desire to attract you to their side, to get what psychologists call “stroking” or a distorted perception of what is happening. Do not perceive the emotional coloring of the story, listen first to the facts.
5
Take care of yourself. If you are upset by events that do not concern you in any way, and which you cannot influence in any way, close them access to your life. For example, stop watching those channels that broadcast news of exceptionally bad news in tragic tones, do not buy tickets for theater performances or for movie premieres if you know in advance that there are scenes that can unsettle you for a long time. Tell yourself that such works of art are designed for those in whom compassion needs to be awakened, and yours is not asleep.
6
Look for positive emotions. Communicate more often with positive people, and not with those who spend hours telling you in detail about their suffering. The latter, often themselves do not want to abandon the troubles that make their life, from their point of view, significant and serious.
7
Create an “emergency” folder on your computer filled with files - be it videos or audio clips, pictures, letters or poems that make you smile. “Accept” positive emotions as soon as you feel that something has upset you too much.
note
Keep in mind that empathic fatigue can lead to depression and negative behaviors. People begin to drink or use drugs to drown out someone else's pain and ruin their lives. If you understand that you are not able to cope with your too "big and kind" heart, seek the help of professionals.