Personal Distress
A self-focused, aversive reaction to someone else's suffering — feeling anxious or overwhelmed by their pain in a way that centers your own discomfort, not their needs.
Personal distress is a facet in Batson's empathy model and the one most often mistaken for high empathy. Someone with strong personal distress genuinely reacts to another's pain — but the reaction is about managing their own spike of anxiety, not about the other person.
Because it is aversive, personal distress tends to produce withdrawal rather than help: turning away from a crying coworker, changing the subject, or leaving the room. It is common in people who were never taught to regulate strong emotion, which is one reason empathy training pairs perspective-taking with emotion-regulation skills — accurate reading of someone's pain is only useful if it doesn't overwhelm the reader first.