Even though empathy and sympathy both connote the same idea, the two different emotions still have distinct definitions. People who feel empathy generally have gone
through the same situation and can understand fully what the other person is going through. On the other hand, people who feel sympathy do not necessarily have to
have gone through the same feeling, but simply just understand that it is hard. Sympathy is included within empathy, but not the other way around.
In a way, empathy is a step forward, as the person actually has to completely understand the feeling that the other person is feeling. Therefore, somebody can be sympathetic but may not actually be empathetic because he or she has not actually gone through the same experience and would not be able to understand the exact feeling.
Often, when someone is going through a difficult time, they need empathy more than sympathy. People often don't feel that someone who hasn't experienced the same
thing fully understands, and thus, they seek out support from those whom have directly experienced the same thing.
On the other hand, sympathy, can sometimes, be ideal as it is often a less "heavy" way to deal with pain. When you are getting empathy from someone, you are
often hearing their pain and this can make your pain even worse. So, with sympathy, it can be a safer way to deal with a negative event as you won't have
two people both discussing a horrible experience that they both had.
