My name is Gabriel and I am a HSP. I wouldn't call myself an empath. Empathetic tendencies, at most.
I recently found out about that - at least I gave a name to this thing - and made the mistake of telling some people about it. Invalidation is a problem for us, and telling people about it, in my experience, just made it worse. Being a male doesn't help either. One of my close friends told me: "Stop saying that. You are a good man."
The flip side is that I'm being nicer to myself since then. It explains a lot. There's a subtle confidence that comes from admitting your weaknesses and honoring your strengths.
A little about me: I'm 33, I'm a writer (not in english) and a magician - like in witchcraft and mysticism, not card tricks. As one author said, a misfit among misfits.
Nice to be here.