Yes, I am an empath and pick up others emotions. Sometimes its like tuning in radio stations to walk down the street and pass people to pick up their pain and emotions. You must ground yourself so you can separate your own feelings and emotions from other's feelings and emotions. There are many ways to do this, imagine yourself in a bubble of white light surrounding you and protecting you but to me the best way is to spend time outdoors barefoot and feeling the earth under your feet while meditating literally grounding you to the earth. Empaths tend to always be "too much in your head" and not centered physically. It is important to protect yourself because the negative emotions and pain of others you feel create an energy vampire that can drain you of all your energy and make you sicker and then you cannot help others even if you want to. When you are an empath, people that are hurting emotionally are drawn to you, intentionally or not, you are like a beacon.

I'm not an Empath but I am a HSP (Highly Sensitive Personality Type). VERY emotionally sensitive. Dr. Elaine Aron wrote the book, "The Highly Sensitive Person". It really helped me to understand why I reacted so emotionally to everything, and that I wasn't going crazy!

For me it is my need to people please that I find myself taking on other people 's stuff.

I am an Empath, and taking on others pain and emotions is a big issue. Going out to places like Wal-mart leaves me extremely stressed and hurting. The best thing you can learn to do is build a wall to keep everything at bay. It takes a lot of practice, and when you are hurting it doesn't always help. I also practice meditation as a way to release all the emotions.

Thought I was the only one. Wow, so nice to not feel alone in this struggle. My whole life.