 Hey Psych2Goers, welcome back to another video. Empaths are kind, caring, nurturing, and loyal friends. They're seen as dependable and trustworthy because they make others feel safe. But being exposed to other people's emotions at all times is exhausting. This gift of hyper-empathy has negative side effects. Not only can you become emotionally exhausted, but also you can become so absorbed in other people's emotions that you forget to take care of your own. These are five negative sides of being an empath. Before we begin, we wanted to make a disclaimer that this video is not to attack anyone who may display these signs, but to help us understand and bring awareness to these darker aspects. Number one, their actions may seem forced in efforts to keep the peace and avoid conflicts. Some empaths become performative. They may say or do things that they do not believe. They will act kind, warm, and diplomatic. However, they may be going through the motions. As an empath, you will have days where you do not feel emotionally capable of being your ideal, warm, super supportive, and understanding self. And that's okay. After all, you are human too. It's important to remind yourself that your emotional needs matter. So set time aside to look after yourself. If someone needs your support, you can still be there for them, but set boundaries for how present and invested you are willing to be there for them at that moment. Number two, they may take advantage of their ability. There are always two sides to everything. When an empath's personality merges with a personality from the dark triad, they become a dark empath. It might initially sound like something out of a sci-fi movie or a dark fantasy novel, but dark empaths are real. A dark empath uses their ability to read people so they can manipulate and take advantage of them. Dark empaths use empathy to draw people close and mine information out of them. A dark empath may look kind and warm on the outside. But in reality, our unfeeling and calculative with acute focus and precision, they learn what makes a person tick and can influence others to act the way they want. Number three, they experience frequent bounds of paranoia. All humans possess mirror neurons, but research suggests that the MNS of an empath is more responsive. This hypersensitivity can lead some empaths to experience more anxiety and paranoia. According to Dr. Orloff, anxiety and paranoia are results rather than symptoms of being an empath. If you are an empath who experiences frequent anxiety, try to understand your emotions. Journaling or working with a therapist can help you adjust to your own emotions and the emotions you may have absorbed from those around you. Number four, they experience cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance is a state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes. It is the mental discomfort you may experience when you harbor two conflicting ideas. For example, you may do something that does not align with your core beliefs. For an empath, it might look like indecision, but is a form of self-preservation. There are several ways of dealing with conflicting beliefs. One way is to provide enough evidence for the supportive belief. Doing so will help you outweigh the dissonance that you feel. For example, if you're passionate about climate change, but feel that your outdated car goes against your beliefs, work towards swapping out your car for a more environmentally-friendly option, or ride your bike to get around town. Do things to support what you believe in. And number five, they can be frequent liars. Sometimes to avoid hurting other people's feelings and pass lie, they see lying as a way to maintain harmony and avoid conflicts. At times, they may bottle up their feelings and thoughts to comply with popular opinion. However, this tactic can have immediate negative effects. Not only does society teach us that lying is bad because it harms our relationships, but lying can also prevent us from relating to others. Research led by Julia Lee from the University of Michigan found that lying lowers your empathetic accuracy. What does this mean to an empath? Whether the lies they tell are detected or not. An empath, at that moment, is unable to identify the other person's emotion and is likely to continue lying. If you are an empath who resorts to lies to maintain harmony, it's time to be honest. Not just for the sake of your relationships, but also for yourself. The dark side of an empath is not born out of malice. Sometimes it is a means of self-preservation. However, it does not mean that any of these traits are defensible. If you are an empath and recognize some of these traits within yourself, seek help to rectify them. Talk to a counselor if you need assistance. Please like and share this video if it helped you and you think it could help someone else too. The studies and references used in this video are listed in the description box. Don't forget to hit the subscribe button for more Psych2Go videos and thank you for watching. We'll see you next time.