Bettina

And NO.....its not normal. See a doctor ASAP....

Bee

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/07/14/mideast/index.html

 

I was pretty blown away and didn't see this coming at all. Do you think we'll get sucked into a larger war now with Syria' date=' Lebonon and Iran?

 

I am more than a little nervous this could get out of control.[/quote']

 

If you mean the United States I don't think so at all. Israel is fully capable of defending itself and defending itself is exactly what its doing. How long Israel would put up with their shopping malls, busses, and cars being bombed by terrorists living in Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria has just been answered.

 

Peaceful people and terrorists cannot coexist. Never, ever. Evil needs to be rooted out and destroyed and I'm dismayed at the number of countries that turn a blind eye to it.

 

Bee

Well' date=' the current actions of the Israeli givernment are not doing much to promote peace:

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5171148.stm[/quote']

 

Neither is sitting still and letting terrorists in neighboring countries blow up Israeli busses, shopping malls, schools, etc.

 

Bee

Buyer beware, I guess (that includes you too, Bee).

Wow.... I am taking "fluoxetine" but don't have symptoms of akathisia. Actually, the full dose made me tired... I'm going to talk to physco doc next week but I can't mention this place... He doesn't want me talking here.

Bee

Geez...

I don't like what I see in this world today so keep yourself safe.... and hurry back.

Bee

Just out of curiosity' date=' (I'm afraid I'm a bit of an elephant's child) do you know if there are varying degrees of 'strength' of empaths? I hate to reduce it to such sci-fi, pokemon terms, but is it the case that, two empaths, faced with the same person, might feel the person's emotions with varying degrees of clarity?

 

Also, I have been reading this thread and surfing the net in my spare time (mostly at work) and I've noticed a trend that most if not all empaths have had some sort of emotional trauma early on. This may be a chicken-egg scenario (after all, this trait seems to cause emotional trauma on its own) but it is still an interesting idea.

 

Also, many self-proclaimed empaths I have spoken with have said that anti-depressants, and other such medications lessen this trait in them. Is this true? Is it is, it may point to a neuro-transmitter being the cause of it, partially at least, as an imbalance in such chemicals are often what anti-depressants 'fix'.[/quote']

 

For me, yes, I had a traumatic experience when I was 10 but it only seemed to amplify what I was born with. I have since come back down a bit from that high point with help from my friends.

 

The medication I'm on now does nothing for flashbacks or lessen the "trait". However, I don't get sick to my stomach as much or spiral down as deep even when I was cut back to a lower dose because they made me tired.

 

Bee

A quiet town where there is a great Mall, lanterns on my street, friendly people, and located in America where I can go to school after the age of eight and don't have to wear this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Woman_walking_in_Afghanistan.jpg

Bettina

I'm saying that when there is the possibilty of great harm' date=' care should be taken. Part of my last statement is clarification, first causes as to why we need pedophilia laws.

 

I'm amending it, sexual contact with children is either harmful or so against social norms that it is proper to outlaw it.

 

However, this kiss just looks like affection to me, and I'm reminded of a friend who said she became a prostitute, partly because she didn't get ENOUGH affection and touching growing up.

 

Does anyone have an opinion about this picture of Putin kissing a boy?

 

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/photos/huge/2006_06/2006_06_30/kiss_4.jpg

 

As for me, I find it too weird for words.[/quote']

 

I saw that and its questionable to me but I don't know if thats a customary thing so I can't comment.

 

Bee

I hope you guys are pushing the voting button and not just replying. YT is not doing so good.

Bee

and Bee' date='

 

I think you would change your mind real quick if your child was involved. Maybe not that picture but one thats more ambiguious.[/quote']

 

(1) Another "What if" statement....

 

(2) If that were my daughter, in the photo as shown, and she was kissing her uncle I would not have a problem with it at all...... His lips are closed. All I see is love and nothing more.

 

Don't get me wrong. I know where your coming from and I commend you for it but its not an issue here.

 

Bee

The picture it self' date=' yes I agree, its quite normal. The moments before and after the picture in this case would determine whether or not it truely is...well.. you know....you can't really comment either way, so maybe he has some justification to the claim.

 

I really don't want to have to explain further. not that I have to, but if I did, I wouldn't. [/quote']

 

The moments before and after the photo are your imagination. He has no justification unless he presents it here. All your doing is introducing a "What if" scenario....

 

Bee

I am always interested in watching the shuttle launches and landings and now we have another foam problem. I understand why the foam is there, but what I don't understand is why they can't add some type of nylon netting over it to keep it from falling off if it breaks its bond.

I understand the high forces, tremendous speeds, etc, but I also know that nylon netting (or other material)can be made pretty strong and light.

What am I missing.

Bee

agreed' date=' in fact I never opened that URL posted in case it was offensive, and went soley upon the the title.

 

However, Not withstanding that, I still stand by what I said as guideline.

 

 

I give my daughter plenty and plenty of kisses and hugs, but never on the lips, most often on her forehead, when playing she might get some on her back or feet with a Farty sound (it makes her laugh). but no, lip kisses are for my wife.

I would kiss a friend on the cheek (female), and give my Buddies a hug.

 

different cultures I guess?[/quote']

 

I see nothing wrong with lip kissing as shown in that photo. I've seen plenty of mothers and dads "fish lip" their children in school and its nice to see. My dad and I, though not like the photo, still kiss each other on the lips.

 

Bee

I voted for YT. He knows how to build those machines.

Bee

I agree. His lips are closed so nothing is wrong. Father/daughter especially ok.

Bee

You really only need a few drops of bleach to do the job. You can use a pool algicide too or one spray of tilex. You don't need a lot to control algae...

I use tilex in our bathroom shower walls all the time.

Bee

Thanks Martin..... I'm still looking at it.

I like video presentations especially the ones that are interactive.

Bettina

I've got one of those portable a/c's that has a water collection reservoir (holds about 2 qt.) where all the humidity it pulls out of the air goes. This thing pulls a ton of humidity out of the air and me living in Florida doesn't help. I can literally empty it every couple hours and if it doesn't get completely emptied at least every other day algae starts to grow. I'm wondering what I might be able to use to keep algae from growing inside the a/c without damaging the plastic reservoir the water collects into.

 

Thanks!

 

P.S. - I'm not to lazy to empty the a/c everyday' date=' but this thing weighs over 100lbs and you have to lift it to empty it.[/quote']

 

A small amount of bleach would do the trick. Same stuff used in pools.

 

Bee

Thank you gib... and the rest of you, for being honest. Its nice to know I'm not alone in this...

Bee

I may not know what it's like to be you, but I do know what it's like to feel like a "mental case" where no one understands me

This part of your post is what helps. Even though you don't know whats its like being me, you do understand where I, and people like me, are coming from and I want to say thanks for that. Most normal people find it easy to go about their day being happy and worry free, but I have to work at it... constantly. I have to be careful what I see on TV or read in books and make sure I don't read too deep into gruesome details.

There are some kids much worse than me who eventually give up and just cut their wrists because they have no help, or no place to go. I'm lucky I've got a father who understood me from the beginning and chose to be my best friend and this place where I meet people who understand.

I know this is a science forum and some get upset about these kind of posts but as long as there is a section here on "Science Forums and Debate > Sciences > Medicine > Psychiatry and Psychology" and as long as I'm being treated by a doctor, then the only basis for their comments are to make themselves look superior.

You mentioned you understood what its like to feel like a mental case.... Why?

Bee

What about the others like Mike, IFeelYa, Lojong, ect.? Have you been corresponding with them? Do you feel they are the type of people you've been looking for?

We've talked, but we can't really help each other. I'm looking for the magic pill and so are they.

Can this post really still be here? This is a science forum after all.

Thanks for the helpful post. I wish I could see you but your up too high.

Bettina

That's great! You know' date=' if this technique ends up working really well for you, you might want to try it without the drugs. Are you still on the drugs? Even if it doesn't work as well off the drugs, you can always go back on them. The important thing is that you're gaining control over it rather than it controlling you. If you do end up gaining really good control over it, you might want to re-consider whether it's a curse or a gift. It's just a thought, but I mean, when anyone gains control over a what was once a debilitating psychological disposition, it becomes more like a tool that can potentially be used in positive ways. If we really hold out our hopes along these lines, I think you'd make an excellent psychotherapist - show that current guy you're seeing how the job is [i']really[/i] done.

 

That's another thing I want to ask you about: are you still seeing that quack? I've got a degree in psychology, and when I took Clinical Psychology 421 where we learnt what makes a good therapist and what doesn't, we learnt that all the "don'ts" are exactly what you described your doctor doing (ex. looking at his watch). So you've got one bad egg. It doesn't mean the whole carton is bad. I support your decision to leave this guy, but I would recommend finding a better doctor to replace him - preferably a female one. Do you think your dad would be against this idea? Hell, it's his money, right? He might as well put it where it's most effective.

 

Even if you don't find a better one, I think you might be getting your best counciling from forums like this. This is just my own biased opinion, but I sometimes think the best therapy comes from regular folks who just want to reach out to help without charging $100 for an hour of their time. For example, the techniques you described (looking around, scratching your arms, talking aloud) sound very much like the techniques Sorcerer was describing way back in early '05 - you know, the pigeonhole guy. He had this technique where he would train his mind to detect which elements in the environment effected him and which didn't, and then focused on the ones that effected him in a good way. The way you draw your attention away from any stimulus reminds me of this. There's also the exercising you did last summer. Wasn't this a recommendation from someone else? These seem to be the things that are really helping you - advice (or at least influence) from regular people.

 

Another thing I wanted to ask: You mentioned a few times in this thread that you're still looking for people who are going through the same thing you are. But it seems like quite a few people stepped forward. Mike comes foremost to mind, and then there's IFeelYa, Thomas Kirby, Lojong among many others. They may not all be empaths to the same degree as you, and they may not have the same symptoms, but do they need to be exactly the same as you. It's true that whenever it comes to a support group, or any kind of group, there should be some common factor that glues them all together, but there should also be a healthy degree of variety as well. But I don't know - it's been a while since you mentioned this. Maybe since then, you and these people have evolved into a cohesive support group.

 

Speaking of which, how's Mike doing? His posts in early January sounded pretty bad, but then his last one (June 8th) sounded more hopeful. How you doing Mike?

 

I also wanted to understand your experiences a bit better. I know you've described them time and time again, but I still would like to ask: what exactly is the experience of "becoming someone else" like? You used the word "vivid" and I'm not sure how this is to be taken. I imagine this ranging from a really intense day dream to a full blown hallucination. Take my bottle of water that's beside me, for example. When I look at it, I say that I perceive it "vividly" in front of me - like I could do nothing to convince myself that it's not there. So when you "become" the other person, do you mean this in the sense that the world, from your POV, literally dissappear in front of you and the other person's world suddenly appears as vividly as my water bottle? Or is it more like a really powerful sense of what it must be like to be the other person?

 

Another question: how do the people you "connect" with react? Do they have any clue that you're experiencing their emotions? Do they react at all?

First, I consider this a curse and yes I'm still on the drugs. This doctor is the third one in the series of physco docs. The first was a women who was a friend of my dads and she had another doctor sit in with us on some of the sessions. After a full physical exam, word testing, talking, etc, etc, They put me on an anti depressent and stomach tranquilizer. Then, both of them sent me to the one I'm with now who took me off of that and put me on a different kind. He told me with his pointy finger not to stop taking it and I haven't. He even told my dad to make sure I don't go off of them. I am in no means suicidal unless Islam becomes the top religion. I think he just said that to get more money from dad.

The reaction I get is a really powerful sense of what it must be like to be the other person, animal, or insect. Its almost trance like. That "bee" episode was the most intense because I was much younger, scared, and felt myself inside that bee. I felt, as the bee felt, confused, frightened, hot, and dying and I could even see me from the bees view. But most of all I could see the walls of glass on both sides of me right down to the scratches that looked like large grooves. When that trance broke, nothing stopped me from saving that bee and I felt an enormous relief when I did.

Lastly, how are you handling the issue of being labeled "crazy"? It almost seemed like, for a while at least, this was a bigger problem than the episodes themselves. This is perfectly understandable. For what it's worth, I don't think you're crazy. There is a thick line between those who are "out of touch" with reality all together, and those who know what's real and what isn't but still have a debilitating problem of a different nature, one that they have no control over. I'd like to offer my own perspective on the word "crazy" - actually, on words like "insane", "disorder", "mental illness", etc. ("crazy" is too slang). These are medical terms, and they should only be used in a medical context. That is, a context in which there is a need to distinguish between "sick" and "healthy" AND ONLY FOR THE PURPOSES OF HELPING THE PATIENT HEAL. It is a grave mistake to use the word in every day contexts, such as saying of a peer that he/she is "crazy" - in this context, it carries way too much prejudice and ill founded judgement. It becomes a label that says to others "judge me" or "make fun of me" or "reject me". This is why, in the medical field, it is okay - because doctors and other medics don't judge or reject on this basis (they're not supposed to anyway).

 

This is not to say one should hide the fact that they may have been diagnosed with some disorder or another in public places. It's just that, in public places like school, work, and home, it's completely the wrong perspective and doesn't make sense. Put it this way: medics have to use the concepts of "disorder", "illness", "insane" because they have to work with a model of the human organism as something that's "supposed" to work in a certain way, and if it deviates from that way, it has to be thought of as "broken" or "in need of fixing". This is important because, well, that's their job - to fix people - and the patients desperately need it. But human beings are also animals - they are also spiritual beings. Putting religion asside, we can say that nature does not build animals like us, or any animal or plant or organism for that matter, according to a "design" - that is, we aren't like computers or vehicles whereby we have to work the "right" way or be built according to the "proper" specs. See, a computer or a car, if it is not built the right way or breaks down or doesn't work properly, needs "fixing". Not so for humans and other animals - especially when it comes to psychological dispositions. There's no "right" way for us to work such that if we deviate from this, we would be "broken". In fact, if you're familiar with the theory of evolution, you'll know that nature produces variety. The more members there are of a certain species, the greater the amount of variety therein, and the more likely you'll find unique or "special" individuals. This is a good thing - at least, insofar as evolution is concerned. Variety is what makes evolution work.

 

I like it when I encounter unique people with unique dispositions - especially intellegent ones like yourself. Their lives are so much more fascinating, and that makes my life so much less boring. So thanks for this.

 

Well, sorry for the long post, but I told you 15 pages is a lot to repond to .

I have been to "empath" web sites but left quickly when it turned magical and haven't gotten any help from my teen sites I belong to. SFN is of no help either (sorry) but at least they don't talk "magic" which I like. My friends are the best, know me well, don't consider me crazy and always call to see how I am doing.

Physco doc doesn't look at his watch anymore because I mentioned that it was a waste of time since the red light on his phone lights up from his secretary that my session time is over. He apologized and removes his watch when I'm there. I know he doesn't understand me but if he could only see what I see...

Bee

Hi Bee' date='

 

I just read through all 15 pages of this thread. WOW!!! It sounds like your making progress, even if it is little by little. Fifteen pages is a lot to comment on, and I do have a lot of things I'd like to say.

 

I'm not an empath, but I always like to try to help those who express a need for it. Would it be all right if I joined the conversation?[/quote']

 

Of course you can. Little is an understatement. When I feel the beginning of an episode, I quickly look around not focusing on anything, scratch my arm as if I had an insect bite, and talk out loud about anything. I just can't allow myself to stare at anything.

 

Bee

I installed IE7 today and liked it a lot. The tabs too. Then I tried to run a little MSN online game that I play often and it wouldn't load. (No problem with IE6). After going to the Microsoft web site I found other people had the same problem. A note was posted by MSN games that none of them are supported in the new IE7 and everyone has switched back to IE6....So did I.

Bee

Hey' date=' Bettina.

 

Would you go out on a date with me? I promise to make you laugh.[/quote']

No.

What works best for me is, "Who the Hell are you?"

 

Thats why.

 

Bee