Mirror neurons allow us to feel other people’s pain. This has a benefit, as often suggested by empathy researchers, but it also has a cost. You can get wired to suffer just by being around people who suffer. Even if your life is fine, mirroring builds a pathway to your cortisol. Once your physical sense of threat is turned on, your cortex looks for evidence of threat. It will find evidence because that eases the “do something” feeling.
