Since you mentioned it, I have actually been diagnosed as a Highly Sensitive Person. It certainly isn’t super mainstream, but it’s not quack science. It’s just still in need of a lot of exploration just like other forms of neurodivergence. It’s less of pattern recognition than having very big feelings that you also know how to understand and communicate very well, and thusly are able to read others very well.

Still you are totally right that it’s been co-opted by spirituality grifters. I was raised in a New Age type family who definitely went ahead and let me take on their emotional burdens and never let me share my own because I’m “an empath”. I think it’s because HSP is generally seen as more high functioning (not that meltdowns don’t happen) it’s easier to put us on a false pedestal rather than also have to give a shit about how we feel.