Anger is a hard emotion for empaths, and it’s an emotion that we tend to shy away from. Most empaths don’t feel comfortable being angry or expressing anger, and there are a few different reasons for this. Many of us were taught in childhood that we’re not allowed to be angry, or that it’s not appropriate to ever display anger in any way. Some of us were shamed for expressing anger, or were told that it’s “not nice” to be angry at someone, or grew up in a household where religious beliefs forced us into immediately turning the other cheek, sometimes mere moments after someone hurt us, and well before we were ready to even entertain the idea of forgiveness.
Anger is also a difficult emotion for empaths to handle because it can feel so overwhelming. Empaths have highly sensitive nervous systems and so a sudden rush of anger can feel overwhelming, disorienting, and even make us feel physically ill. We may experience dizziness or shortness of breath or vision problems, such as “seeing spots” or experiencing blurred vision. Empaths also usually have a long history of picking up on the anger of others, and so, if we’re around someone who has an angry outburst (or many of them, regularly) we may question if the anger we’re feeling actually belongs to us or not.