When describing what we feel about other person’s emotions, we sometimes use the words

“sympathy” and “empathy” interchangeably. These words sound very similar, they both come
from Greek and therefore, are confused very often. Still, they aren’t synonyms, and they can’t
replace one another in a sentence. Therapists have determined that not only do these two words
have vastly different meanings, but how we show “sympathy” or “empathy” are quite different.
But what exactly is the differences?
Sympathy comes from the Greek prefix “sym”, meaning "together," and “pathos”, meaning
"feelings, emotion, or passion.
sympathy is defined as “the feeling that you care about and are sorry about someone else’s
trouble, grief, misfortune, etc.” You are concern for someone who is experiencing something
difficult or painful. There are many times when sympathy is an appropriate emotion for a
difficult situation.
However, sympathy tends to separate you from the person struggling because it tries to make
sense of a situation or look at it from their own perspective. When a person is sympathetic, they
may give helpful advice or look upon someone with pity. Also they often feel relieved that they
are not in the same situation.
But sometimes sympathy is the appropriate response, for example, when someone you do not
know well experiences a loss, you might send a sympathy card. When two people are not
remarkably close, sympathy shows caring but keeps an appropriate social distance.
Whether it is a casual acquaintance or someone from work, gestures of sympathy are a social
response to a personal crisis. It acknowledges another person’s hurt while maintaining the social
norms necessary for the relationship to function. When a relationship is not intimate or close,
sympathy is the appropriate response. However, with a close friend or family member, we should
strive for empathy in our communication.
Empathy
Empathy derives from the Greek prefix “en”, meaning “in, on” and the noun “pathos” means
"feelings, emotion, or passion.
empathy defined as "the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and
vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another."
Meaning that when you see another person suffering, you are able to instantly envision yourself
going through that same experience and feel what they are going through. Looking at things from
another person’s perspective and attempting to understand why they feel the way they do.
Nonetheless, showing empathy is not easy. It requires a tremendous amount of vulnerability to
see yourself in another person’s struggle and that can be uncomfortable especially when you are
supporting someone in a difficult time.
By expressing empathy to our loved ones, we are inviting them into our inner world and make
them feel connected. "The goal of empathy is to not fix the problem, it is to let the person know
they are not alone,"
Now the differences between empathy and sympathy is found in how we relate to the other
person.
SYMPATHY is acknowledging that the other person is going through an emotional or physical
struggle, supporting them and giving them comfort.
EMPATHY It’s actually understanding what the other person is feeling because you’ve had a
similar experience yourself or you’re able to put yourself in their shoes.
Another main difference between empathy and sympathy is that empathy is an appropriate
emotion at any time. Showing empathy will bring you closer to others no matter what the
circumstances. Where sympathy is only exhibited during tough times, being empathetic is an
attitude we can adopt at any time.
Conclusion
To put it simply Empathy is shown in how much compassion and understanding we can give to
another, is our ability to understand how someone feels while sympathy is more of a feeling of
pity for another, a relief in not having the same problems.