What part of the brain controls emotions and how?
Emotions, like fear and love, are carried out by the limbic system, which is located in the temporal lobe. While the limbic system is made up of multiple parts of the brain, the center of emotional processing is the amygdala, which receives input from other brain functions, like memory and attention.AmygdalaShaped like an almond, the amygdala is responsible for multiple emotional responses, like love, fear, anger and sexual desire. Shippensburg University states that in animal studies, stimulation or removal of the amygdala alters the emotional response: electrical activation causes aggression, while surgical removal results in indifferent emotional reactions. Therefore, damage to the amygdala can result in abnormal emotional responses, and overstimulation causes excessive reactions.HippocampusThe hippocampus is another part of the limbic system that sends information to the amygdala. One of the memory processing centers of the brain, the hippocampus interacts with the amygdala when a person has memories with emotional ties. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research adds that the connection between the hippocampus and amygdala “may be the origin of strong emotions triggered by particular memories,” which explains emotional responses to traumatic memories.Prefrontal CortexThe prefrontal cortex, located near the front of the head, is involved in decision making in response to emotions. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research states that the prefrontal cortex controls what decision a person makes when faced with an emotional reaction, and also regulates anxiety.HypothalamusThe hypothalamus, also a part of the limbic system, feeds information into the amygdala. Shippensburg University states that the hypothalamus acts as a regulator of emotion, controlling levels of sexual desire, pleasure, aggression and anger.Cingulate GyrusThe cingulate gyrus acts as a pathway between the thalamus and the hippocampus, and plays a role in remembering emotional charged events. Shippensburg University notes that the cingulate gyrus focuses the attention on the event, alerting the rest of the brain that it is emotionally significant.Ventral Tegmental AreaThe ventral tegmental area is also involved in emotions and love, particularly in how a person perceives pleasure. Dopamine pathways are located in the ventral tegmental area: dopamine is a neurotransmitter involved in mood, and increased levels elevate the person's level of pleasure.
Are there people out there with as much empathy as me?
I don't know if I can even answer this. I can tell you this there is nothing wrong with having this much empathy. The error lies with letting it control your life and others around. People all have DIFFERENT levels of empathy. They deal with it in their own way. You have become obsessed with it. If this is going to give you a neurosis maybe you should talk to someone.In a paper published online by Axiz-Zadeh, Cerebral Cortex, USC researcher furthered her ongoing work in mapping out the way the brain generates empathy, even for those who differ physically from themselves.According to Aziz-Zadeh’s findings, empathy for someone to whom you can directly relate — or example, because they are experiencing pain in a limb that you possess — is mostly generated by the intuitive, sensory-motor parts of the brain. However, empathy for someone to whom you cannot directly relate relies more on the rationalizing part of the brain. From the USC Pressroom. So your problem could be a physical manifestation. You may be able to lessen the way your brain processes this by trying to desensitize yourself to the severe empathy you feel. If you wish to do so. But you should decide one way or the other. If you are going to live with this condition, fine. But don't let it affect those around you. If you feel you need treatment go for it. I am with you 100% of the way. StephenIf you liked this answer please follow me to: Freedoms Ring
Why do narcissists try to control empathic people?
Believe it or not, they do it to empaths because empaths feed their motives. Empaths are like batteries to narcissists/sociopaths/psychopaths, because they have everything that narcissists/sociopaths/psychopaths try to be. Every time a sociopath loses one of their masks, they usually move, alienate themselves from their current group of friends, drop off the face of the Earth, re-emerge somewhere else as someone else (another mask), and they start all over. When they start over, they usually want to do things differently, so they try to relearn certain traits all over again, in preparation for their new mask.The traits they look for are well spoken, well-rounded, eccentric, compassionate, kind-hearted, yet lonely people. From there, they spend as much time as they can with you, constantly siphoning off of your energy and personality— until they seem like your soulmate. They will use that connection (a successful illusion of a connection) to Control you because at that point, you are their reference point. Once they’ve drained you and you become boring, or they find people in a better social circle, they will use the mask that they created in your likeness, and they will infiltrated those people and leave you behind.Once they’re in that new circle of associates, they will look for the most compassionate person of that group, and make a mask based off of them. It’s a cycle that never ends. Most of those narcissists/sociopaths/psychopaths always fail because they’re low-functioning narcissists/sociopaths/psychopaths, they’re almost guaranteed to get caught. The beauty in being an Empath is that we will see the bullshit after a certain point, and we usually will find a way to expose the narcissists/sociopaths/psychopaths... I know that’s what I’d do.
I can feel other peoples emotions.Bad and good ones.What is that? Is there a name for that? Is that an ability
Makes for a long day doesn't it. Being empathic can have it's moments too, though they can be few they can be grand. Try an keep a decent grip on who you are so as to recognize the signiture of another so when these things happen it is not always so overwhelming. Others may scoff or designate titles such as bipolar, depression, fragile, anxioties, etc, etc. It is easy to lose yourself to others as it is to their ideas of your reality in the form of a loved ones opinion who tries but can't understand so they form a reality of why you are who you are to better cope. I have heard of shielding methods with energy and some far out there stuff, but out there between the lines sometimes, are things that speak on this subject with a tact an intelligent insight and science based facts some credible some questionable as are most things. It would probably be safe to say that you could judge well these things for yourself givin the chance to. Though total control may never be acquired a level of control can be achieved. But bare in mind that you can "see" so to say, the impact things can have on their surroundings and how that can have a ripple effect continuing the cycle. Within this is the ability to soften the blow to others who are troubled or hurt or lost within. The ability to connect to even the most loniest of souls who have never felt connected to anyone. There is always hope and though at times it seems fleeting it is there. I wish you piece of mind.
Do people who have too much empathy pretend to be psychopaths?
Well, I happen to be one of those people who are too empathetic and want to help anyone who is in need. I got taken advantage a lot in my younger days. I didn't pretend to be a psychopath though. lol I did have to learn to reign my emotions in. I reminded myself that feeling empathy is good and fine but that I need to read the situation and not make it my problem just because I feel bad for them. Which has been a long hard process. Eventually I learned when and who to help and when to simply offer them my sympathy. This ability to sort of calm my emotions came in handy. I almost never get angry. I may get upset and everything but I dampen it down until it's the bare raw emotion and suppress the hurt and anger as best as possible. I also let a lot of things go. If my mother, who is a bit pushy about what she thinks is right... so if she comes over and decides I should hang a painting (that she picked out) somewhere, I may give my input but in the end, I'm not going to make a fuss. Let her hang the painting and she's happy and it doesn't really effect me in the grand scheme of things. The medical system and state insurance company gets all my rage. I've found that going along to get along really works when it comes to dealing with people. I'm no one's door mat but I do pick my battles and I learn to suppress a lot of emotion and then I play video games as an outlet. Also, I have been in relationships that I realize aren't working (I haven't done this in like 6 years or something) so I talk it out with the person and give them an option to work on it with me but I start suppressing the feelings so that it wont hurt so bad if we break up. I start to detach if us working on it starts to fail. Eventually I'll warn them that I'm unhappy and that if things don't change we'll need to end things. Eventually I'll get to the point where I can end thing with a reasonable head, not totally driven by emotion. At least, that's how I used to handle things when I was a lot younger. I think if you are very empathetic, you really do have to learn to control, manage, and suppress your emotions.
Is there any way to train yourself not to feel Empathy and Sympathy?
I do believe that empathy and sympathy are part of what makes you human and really what stops you from being a bio-organic robot. You see everyone has a personality how you think, feel and react to emotions is unique to you in that fashion. Sympathy and empathy makeup you as a whole. To get rid of these emotions would be like removing parts of yourself. Anyone can condition themselves to not feel empathy or sympathy for others but it comes at what cost? Some may say that those are a weakness, but they are also a strength. Humans are tribal creatures and form strong bonded societies and norms of behaviour with each other. I would have to argue that in removing either empathy or sympathy from your life would have negative ramifications on how you connect and form bonds with other people. In regard to your question, you can condition yourself by continuously exposing yourself to situations where you act accordingly with how you can benefit from the situation. An example would be forgoing some event in which you help another person else at the cost of your own expense. Don't do that good deed helping some old lady who has lost her shopping all over the floor. If you consider some of the things I have suggested to be 'wrong' then you have empathy and can sympathise with others when they are in need. The path you are looking down if you choose to pursue may make you a selfish and callous person, one who only looks out for himself, it may not. I cannot however see your future in that matter. Good luck in your endeavours, Regards..
Why do some people become too emotional?
I figure that you'd ask that because you've seen someone "overreact" to something. A lot of the time, it's because there's a layer that you can't see.For example, I'm a perfectionist, and sometimes when I make a mistake, even if it's something that is not a big deal, the wave of self-loathing comes at me so fast that I can't intervene with logic in time to keep from getting emotional about it. You could be seeing how someone's childhood looked. If your parents give in every time you have a tantrum, you can carry that behavior into adulthood. At the same time, if your parents ignore you, you may learn that pitching a fit is the only way to be heard. If you suffered major losses growing up--the death of a parent or sibling, you might panic about "little things" like un-returned phone calls or plans that are cancelled at the last minute, because you've learned to worry that loved ones could vanish at any moment.Also, some people are highly connected to the experiences of others--they feel so much empathy that it's hard for them not to feel what others feel. I once saw a historian start crying during an interview about the Titanic.On the other hand, some people have learned that extreme emotion makes others uncomfortable, and they use it as a tool to manipulate their behavior.The important thing is, if someone is yelling or crying, even if it doesn't make sense to you, it makes sense to them. That's why it's always a waste of time to tell people they're overreacting or that they should calm down.