Inanimate Object Empathy Disorder (IOED) is an armchair-psychological designation for people who experience extreme amounts of empathy for inanimate objects -- specifically objects that depict living things that appear damaged or distressed.
IOED describes someone who experiences legitimate feelings towards objects that appear as if they deserve sympathy, support, and even help as if they were animate beings. However, because these objects are not actually living beings, these impulses to care for, help, and support are misplaced. Hence the disorder designation.
If someone if your life continually says things like "awwwww.... that poor x" where x is more often than not a stuffed animal with a missing ear or a tear in its fabric, then that person in your life suffers from IOED.
IOED describes someone who experiences legitimate feelings towards objects that appear as if they deserve sympathy, support, and even help as if they were animate beings. However, because these objects are not actually living beings, these impulses to care for, help, and support are misplaced. Hence the disorder designation.
If someone if your life continually says things like "awwwww.... that poor x" where x is more often than not a stuffed animal with a missing ear or a tear in its fabric, then that person in your life suffers from IOED.
Using the term Inanimate Object Empathy Disorder (IOED) in context: Because my wife has IOED, when she found 2 stuffed animals on the road, disheveled, she felt a burning desire to "save" them and "nurse them back to health" in our home. Now, thanks to her IOED, we have a new shelf in our family room with "recovering" stuffed animals on it that fill her heart with joy every day.
by NewPOV January 22, 2025
Get the Inanimate Object Empathy Disorder (IOED)mug. Hym "Ultra-Omega Psychology Genius! That entire segment about selective empathy is downstream from my thing! How am I THIS GOOD at everything!? I have to have like 1 million citations at this point. Wait, is it 937 kills or is it 937 PhDs? Assists? No, that would suck. 937 isn't a lot of assists...So, it's gotta be PhDs. 937 PhDs! The single greatest psychologizer in the history of humanity!"
by Hym Iam May 23, 2024
Get the Selective Empathymug. A condition of empathy that is above hyper-empathy in some regards but not in others. A person with transfinite-empathy is able to feel any emotion, even if there is seemingly no connection between them and someone feeling that emotion. In this regard, it is above hyper-empathy. However, due to it not necessarily implying the ability to be high alert for negative emotions, it is not above it in all aspects. Depending on the cause, it may or may not still imply the ability to be fully connected and in tune with a person's emotions. A transfinite-empathic person does not need external stimuli to feel emotions and can feel emotions that the situation would not usually be able to evoke.
Origin: "Transfinite" (chosen due to it not being above "Hyper" in all regards but still above it in some) + Empathy.
Origin: "Transfinite" (chosen due to it not being above "Hyper" in all regards but still above it in some) + Empathy.
As someone with transfinite-empathy, I can feel whatever emotion my character would and be the best actor possible.
by Shugunou February 19, 2023
Get the Transfinite-Empathymug. When compassion for a group, individual, or ideology becomes so unconditional that it blinds you to danger, exploitation, or harm.
She kept forgiving her abusive partner out of suicidal empathy, until she had nothing left of herself.
by Aternias September 6, 2025
Get the suicidal empathymug. Too much empathy for your own good. Putting yourself in unhealthy situations for the benefit of someone else.
Jacob gave his only winter coat to his friend who didn’t have one. Now Jacob no longer has a coat himself. Jacob struggles with chronic empathy
by jacbarc October 2, 2022
Get the chronic empathymug. The ability for a person to simultaneously consider their own position, feelings, motivations, etc. as well as those of another person (or group of people).
The reason he was such an effective communicator was because of his meta empathy, people with whom he was speaking always felt like he understood them intuitively.
by GPM415 December 29, 2021
Get the meta empathymug. When you always make things about you. It has become a modern buzz word for narcissistic women who are transparently projecting their own delusion that they have some exceptional power to feel and sense the emotions of others. while it seems that every woman you meet is a self described empath, the reality is that only 16% of the population has any quantifiable empathy levels above average, and yes it can be reliably tested for it. Furthermore, empathy is not a useful personality trait. In personal relationships, it can cloud your judgment and your ability to give advice or be of assistance to a friend in need. Worse yet is it’s inability to be applied to any large scale decision making. People literally cannot feel empathy for more than a couple of people at a time, generally three. Any tragedy greater than three people is generally of no differing consequence to someone of extremely high empathy. They simply short-circuit. They are useless at population management, political policy, as they try and personalize everything and get emotionally sidetracked with issues that affect all populations. They won’t flip a switch redirecting a train so that it only kills five people in a work zone, instead of slamming into a pact train station killing hundreds. -a example of one of the thought experiments done to test peoples ethical decision making. Empaths always fail, causing disastrous hypothetical results.
“I’m really sorry that my mother passing away makes you so upset Bridget, let me leave the funeral and come make sure you are OK, I know it must be hard having so much empathy.”
by AgrAryanStallion September 4, 2021
Get the Empathymug.