Empathy Vs Sympathy

Empathy means to be able to identify with another person’s emotions while staying connected in one’s own body. Sympathy is what happens when we try to feel the other person’s emotions.

Why does this matter?

It matters because it leads to co-dependence. 

A drug addict is dependent on his substance. He cannot tolerate his hunger for drugs so he takes drugs. The family members of an addict, instead of holding onto their own normal and stable emotion, feel sympathy for the patient and get their own feelings involved. Once that happens, the family either provokes or enables. Thus, it gets stuck in this vicious circle.In our day to day life, things happen around us and there are degrees in which they affect us.

Suppose there is a war being fought between two countries and it doesn’t drastically affect another country, the latter would not do anything. What I mean is, we act when we feel like we need to because we are not in the best position. Yet, keeping a stable mind is important while dealing with situations that are close to us emotionally, as emotion clouds our judgment. A doctor does not operate on his family members. A therapist doesn’t give therapy to her friends and family. 

Society, the human social experience, is as much built with boundaries as much it is with bridges. A healthy relationship has a balance of bridge and boundary. In addict families, these boundaries are weak and it is all because of sympathy being felt and not empathy. The member who is outside the swamp also jumps into the swamp to try to rescue his patient, but since he himself has jumped, how can he get himself or the patient out?

Thus, we have families losing sleep for months and years, not being able to eat properly, live properly. The assertiveness to say ‘no’ is the beginning of a healthy foundation. When we empathize, we feel bad for the other person.When we sympathize, we just feel bad because the other is feeling bad. Sympathy doesn’t lead to any action, but empathy leads to healing measures.

Empathy has the power to change the life of your loved one – advised by specialist doctors and psychiatrists. When the families agreed on treatments for their patients with empathy, they led to success in recovery. The best de addiction centre in Punjab and other regions can only give guidance and treat the patient with proper care. But what after that? There is a need for empathy in their family which always takes care of their patients, never leaves him alone and makes his environment friendly for him/her.

The environment of the family means a lot in the successful recovery of a patient in any treatment like addiction treatment. The doctors usually do not have any faith what will be the outcome of their therapies and treatment given to the patient. The family’s cooperation and dedication is very much needed. That’s never counted what has been done earlier. Why does your loved one become addicted?

Let’s begin today. Start the journey of de addiction with drug treatment in Amritsar, Punjab to get rid of it as soon as possible. The treatments cover all the mental health issues and work on it.