Podcasts and Audio

Empathy, Sympathy, Tomatoes, Potatoes, Compassion, Pity and Mirror Synaesthesia

Empathy, sympathy, compassion, pity and now: mirror synaesthesia. I’m confused. As healthcare professionals, we are told the gold standard is empathy when it comes to understanding those in our care, yet what does this really mean? And, is it actually a genuine emotion or an aspiration? Or, perhaps even a convenient fiction? How do I know if I’m being empathetic and not simply deluding myself and doing nothing more than projecting my own emotions and assumptions onto my patients? And then there is the new kid on the block, mirror synaesthesia, which is akin to empathy on steroids, and might just be pseudoscience… How do you feel about this? Me? I’m really confused. So, in this episode, we’re going to explore the underlying assumptions that inform these concepts and separate what’s grounded in evidence, and what’s based in wishful thinking.