Empaths And Relationships

I am a 19 year old college student. I've always know that I was different... I've always been known as the, "overly sensitive" one, and people always told me that I'm too soft, too easily affected or changed by others or that I'm too 'emotional', too anti-social. Only a few of my closest friends know that I'm an empath.

I always know when someone is lying, I can tell when people are upset or sad even if they have a huge smile on their face, I get strong feelings from people, usually depression, excitement, and anxiety hit me the hardest, and sometimes I can see aura's it just depends on how strong someone appears to me. As soon as I walk into a room I can feel and identify each emotion someone is feeling. Most of the time I'm strong enough to block it out, not to let it take control of my emotions, but if it's strong enough, I can't do anything about it. I'm the therapist for my friends... They all come to me for advice, for things they need, and I always have a hard time saying no because I love helping people and even though it wears me down, I feel amazing knowing that I've helped someone else fix their problems.

My boyfriend is also a strong empath. I've never known another empath, so this is all new to me. We share everything without having to speak. I can feel his presence when he's near and just having him look at me, or stand next to me... I know what he's thinking about, what he's feeling, sometimes even what he's going to say or do next. He does the same for me. He told me that from the first time he met me, he knew me. He knew that I block people out so I don't have to feel their emotions, and he knew that I put up shields in order for me to just make it out my front door without being affected by someone... Things that no one other than an empath would possibly know about me. He saw through my mask, and I see through his. It's amazing... It's a great connection, he always knows just what to do to make me feel better when I've been affected by the people around me. (Btw, I'm a music therapy major, so I deal with a lot of other people's strong emotions on a daily basis. I am very moved by music, it's my emotional release, my form of meditation, and of course helping people while using music is ideal for me). But he grounds me, brings me back to Earth.

So now that you know more about me, I have some questions. My empath boyfriend and I seem to such a strong connection that when we first started dating, just having him sit next to me was overwhelming, almost to the point where I felt like I was going to be sick with the attraction I was feeling. He didn't feel it as strongly as I could, he told me he could feel it, but it didn't make him feel sick. (He's stronger when it comes to telling what someone is thinking, he knows when someone is feeling sad or happy, any type of emotion, but he isn't as strong as me when it comes to feeling emotions physically).

Now that we've been dating for a few months, it's rare for me to feel sickly overwhelmed, but the other night, I had had a really bad, tough day, and was feeling really insecure and he saw me and immediately knew what I was feeling and as soon as he put his arms around me... I felt overwhelmingly protected and I could feel the love pouring out of his soul, willing me to stop feeling the way I was. It was so strong I had to back away from him to avoid being sick. It's almost like I'm being consumed, smothered with emotion, but they're good emotions so why do they hurt me? Why does this happen? Is it just because of the strong connection we have and the fact that we're both empaths? Or is it just because he really does love me that much?

Any advice is appreciated,

-Ash