I would suggest that empathy includes recognizing the material needs of others; food, housing, education, healthcare and the like.

I see your point that empathy does include sympathy for physical and emotional pain, the common human emotions that occur when we suffer material and familial loss.

But many emotional needs are not universal: the need for acknowledgement, for group acceptance, for fame, for apology, for vengeance, for violence, for wealth, for power, for sexual dominance or submission.

And many other emotions are pure neurosis: paranoia, delusions, many phobias, etc.

Affective disorders often exhibit in the projection of unhealthy emotional needs as 'universal' human emotional attributes.

At least, that's how I remember the construct.