The Dark Side of Empathy – The New ZDF Documentary

Empathy describes our ability to feel what others are feeling. This process is often associated with positive outcome, such as fulfilling interpersonal relationships and prosocial behaviour. However, what happens when our empathy overwhelms us, makes us sick or reduces the likelihood of us helping others? You can find some answers to these questions in the ZDF documentary “The dark side of the superpower”. This video is part of the Terra Xplore documentary series on empathy, with insights from research of renowned empathy researchers. Philipp Kanske demonstrates how feelings can be shared between people and which brain regions are engaged when we empathise with others. You can watch the full episode here.