Friday 22 September 2017

Empathy: Caring For Others Is Good For You

Empathy: Caring For Others Is Good For You

Empathy and caring for others, whether in the family or helping with Charity work, is good for you because you get a sense of doing something worthwhile

 


By Dr. Mercola

Empathy, the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, so to speak, and understand their feelings and point of view, is a character trait that may benefit society and individuals in multiple ways. Empathy training has been found to reduce stress levels among medical students facing intense emotional encounters with patients, for example.1 While many parents try to instill empathetic qualities in their children, there’s growing research that empathy has deep neurological roots in humans.

One of the first signs that empathy may be ingrained in all of us occurred in 1848, when a foreman named Phineas Gage working on a railroad construction project had an accident, which resulted in an iron rod going through his skull. He survived, but not without marked changes to his personality. His friends, family and physician described him as rude and inconsiderate following the accident.2


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