Empathy, Sympathy, and Compassion

Let’s talk about sympathy, empathy, and compassion. You’ve likely used these terms before, perhaps interchangeably, to mean expressing care towards someone. However, feeling sympathy, empathy, and compassion are all different ways people respond to another person’s suffering.

Sympathy is an emotional response that acknowledges and feels for someone’s suffering. If your close friend Ryan told you that he was rejected from his dream university, you might feel sad for him and say, “That’s terrible. I’m sorry you didn’t get in.” In this scenario, you responded to Ryan with sympathy.

Empathy differs slightly from sympathy. Instead of feeling for someone’s suffering, you feel their suffering with them. If Ryan opened up to you, you might feel a sinking sensation in your stomach and say, “I’m really sorry, Ryan. I know how hard you worked on your application.” You might relate to his disappointment, especially if you have been rejected from something you wanted before yourself.

Put simply, sympathy says, “I feel for you,” while empathy says, “I feel with you.”

Compassion goes one step further than sympathy or empathy. If you feel compassion towards someone, you not only feel for or with them but also feel a desire to alleviate their suffering. In other words, compassion says, “I feel for or with you, and I want to help.”

A compassionate act can be sympathetic or empathetic. For example, sympathy may motivate you to send a get-well-soon card to a sick friend, while empathy may move you to take notes for them because you understand how stressful it would feel to fall behind in class. An empathetic, compassionate act is often more appreciated than a sympathetic one, but how does one practise empathy in the first place? 

One way is through dialogue, asking questions such as “How are you feeling about what happened?” or “Would you like to talk about it?” Another way is through observation. Body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice can often reveal more about a person’s emotional state and needs than words alone.

That being said, there is such a thing as too much empathy. Problems can arise when we overidentify with someone else’s suffering and begin carrying their pain as though it were our own. Healthy empathy requires balance. We can care deeply about others while still maintaining emotional boundaries and self-awareness. 

True empathy means understanding someone’s feelings without losing sight of our own. Like any skill, empathy develops through conscious practice. The more we develop it while maintaining healthy boundaries, the better we can support the people around us.

Writer: Ana

Published: 09/07/2026

References:

Schwartz, A. A. (2024, April 22). Empathy vs. sympathy: What's the difference? The Well. https://thewell.northwell.edu/emotional-wellness/empathy-vs-sympathy

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Empathy. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved June 18, 2026, from merriam-webster.com