Do you mistake other people's feelings for your own?

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It's supposed to be called echo-emotica and I've heard some people have it. I do and it's very frustrating. I'm always confused as to what I'm feeling about things, and somtimes what I'm feeling actually comes from someone else! It's really odd, I cannot read feelings intuitively or understand their complexity, but put me in a room with someone who's anxious and I'll be anxious too. Problem is, I won't know why. After my diagnosis though, I've realized I can reason my way to whether an emotion belongs to me or someone I've happened to come across.

My psychologist called it being invaded by other people's feelings. I think I saw Willard mentioning it, anyone else?

no.
i do not even mistake my own feelings as my own.

I do occasionally make mistakes in telling emotions of others apart, and sometimes believe that they're thinking the same as I am. But, to me a person's facial expression and body language has to show their emotion in order to convey it correctly in some cases.

Never

I can become overwhelmed by the emotions of others. When I was in college, a guy who lived down the hall from me was killed. I knew him, but wasn't close to him in any way. The night of his death everyone gathered in the common room to cry together. I was sobbing right along with the rest of them. Didn't realize it at the time, but I definitely didn't share their emotions toward the death. I have been overwhelmed in other circumstances too, but that one was the most extreme.

It was really bad when I was little and just trying to train myself in the ways of empathy. If someone I cared about had a bad day, I would make myself feel just as bad. My mom told me this needed to stop, especially once I was a teenager and already way too moody on top of it.

Now it only happens when it's a new situation and I'm looking to other people to figure out how I'm supposed to being feeling at that moment, especially if it isn't effecting me personally--like when there's a hurricane on the other side of the country.

Aha, interesting answers.

I never do it intentionally, I'll just suddenly feel something and I won't know why and then when I retrace my steps I can see it was someone else who felt i´and I just kind of picked it up. I guess my subconscious empathy works, but the information gets mixed up with my own feelings, if that makes any sense. I guess it's not overly common since few people have replied.

I often think that the misunderstandings that take place as a result of autism are not caused by us failing to pick up signals, but rather that they are processed wrong. I don't know if that matters though (haven't had coffee yet so my brain's a bit mushy)

I have a schizoaffective condition. I tend to mistake my own thoughts for other peoples, which is kind of the opposite of that of autism. The psychological mechanism is called 'projection'.

I don't know. I have difficulty understanding my own emotions, especially strong emotions, so I'm not sure if I "take over" other people's feelings.

I think I do this a lot! And the (their!) emotion will remain with me for hours or even days .. don't like that. Normally lots of time and work before real me emerges again.

no

I wouldn't describe it as mistaking another's feelings for my own, but I do get affected or invaded (as your psych mentioned) by others' feelings and behaviours. One counsellor I saw mentioned that many emotions stirred in us are actually a result of other people's issues.

I voted for #1. I do mistake other's feelings with my own. If somebody's crying, I end up joining them. I never mistake another person's anger with my own, because I have no tolerance for anger. I tend to ignore angry people.