Empathy and sympathy are closely related, but both have different connotations.

Empathy is about feeling what someone else feels, whilst sympathy is about action. When you meet someone with empathy it isn't difficult to see they are sympathetic too. Someone who is sympathetic but not empathetic, may fail to connect emotionally with others.

Words express thoughts, but it’s acting on those words that show that we care. As the saying goes 'actions speak louder than words' and I believe that to be true.

A little bit more about empathy:

  • Empathy helps us connect emotionally with others. Emotionally we should begin to feel less alone, but we should also try to open-up. Empathy also helps us heal;
  • When someone shows they care and and are empathetic, it gives us the confidence to believe we can care back;
  • Empathy brings families closer together. Empathy allows you to understand first-hand what someone feels, without part guessing and for you then to know if you need to change tack;
  • Empathy brings trust.

Empathy is also the building block to relationships and that’s what relationships need to thrive on. Everyone can sympathise but not everyone can empathise.

Ilana Estelle is a mental health and wellbeing advocate who combines educational insight with her personal experience of living with physical, mental, and emotional disabilities. She holds diplomas in Counselling, Diet and Nutrition, Nutritional Therapy, Psychotherapy and Counselling, and Stress Management. Through her writing, Ilana supports others in navigating their emotional, mental, and physical health challenges. In addition to writing for The CP Diary, her work has appeared in healthy lifestyle magazines. Ilana is also the author of three books: Cerebral Palsy: A Story – Finding the Calm After the Storm, Spirituality, Healing and Me, and Survival: The Covid Years – Time for Change.

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