BBkeats

it may sound like i am treating it lightly (because we are probably extremely different in POV) but i am not treating it lightly

 

here's my answer. I stopped watching TV (especially news) 20 years ago

and I wont listen to commercial pop music.

 

commerical pop debases our empathic responses and exploits them to make a buck

 

classic stuff like the soprano arias in the moz cminor do evoke' date=' but they enoble and focus and resolve the feelings

(instead of debasing and dispersing and ultimately deadening, just to make a buck)

 

we live in a commerce driven culture where kids are influenced by whatever sells the most, you have to make allowances and adjust for that

 

you have to be selective about what you expose your empathy to, if you have enough empathy for it to be a problem.

 

WELL that is just my reaction. but your idea of a support group sounds reasonable enough.

 

I wouldnt joint such a group because I have a kind of "church" of my own making that focuses and resolves my feelings. I read poems I love, I sing SATB with other people, I think about cosmology, I understand the value of serenity, I take walks in hilly open spaces. I even watch birds, although I tend to think it is silly and that conventional birdwatchers overdo it.

And I dont watch television. and I try to tune out what America is becoming. So I hardly ever feel sick!

 

So I dont need any kind of support group like that. But I can still tell that it could be a sensible idea.

 

however, why dont you describe, for the rest of us, what extreme problematical empathic experiences are like. Like to people in your class at school trigger them, because they are so miserable?

 

Or does media stuff? like the horrors constantly happening? or what starts it?[/quote']

Wow, this was posted such a long time ago, I wonder if it's too late to respond? --BBkeats

Would you please explain your feelings when you encounter someone that triggers it. Can you feel them?

I want to know as much as I can from other people like you. For example' date=' do you ever get sick? When are the worst times, etc.

 

Bettina[/quote']

Hey Bettina,

I am new at this myself. I never realized what was happening to me; I thought I was going crazy! I've been to the doctor so many times with different ailments just to find out I was perfectly well. Now I know why. I stay at home as much as I possibly can because I don't like to go out in crowds etc. Definitely don't like elevators. Recently I've learned some stuff about grounding and shielding that I'm trying - - but if you know of a faster way to block the feelings please let me know. . . BBkeats