Take the 2-minute tour ×

Two days back I read about the Germans atrocities during world war II. The gas chambers, the scientific experiments of bone transplants without anesthesia, rapes etc. And now my mind is disturbed. I am frightened. It has been 3 days, and that is the only thing I keep thinking about. I imagine scenes, and that causes me pain.

I sit on human pedaled rickshaws and when the driver is physically weak and old, I get saddened and disturbed.

I see a goon misbehaving with a weak man, I get saddened and disturbed. Went for dinner at a local market few months back. It is a very busy market especially on a Sunday night. While having dinner I watched 5 men lettings off bunches of balloons in the air. At first I thought they were some fun loving people who were making pure merry. Went closer, only to find out that those muscular men had taken over the balloon man's cycle and were letting off all the balloons tied to it! I watched the balloon man's plight, he was a thin man watching helplessly the acts of the goons.

While returning home the thoughts of people getting murdered in the daylight, girls getting raped, flashed across my mind. I was crying, literally.

I have not noticed my other family members having the same degree of sensitivity.

Can I do something about it?

This problem is effecting my job, my mind. Can't concentrate.

share|improve this question
Why the downvote? –  TheRebelAquarius Dec 2 '11 at 12:34
I did not vote this down, but given that also a close vote has been cast it might be that they think your question is off-topic. Given that our site tries to focus more on "productivity" than on "personal"... –  Tom Wijsman Dec 2 '11 at 12:47
@TomWijsman I just stated the reason of my lack of concentration. Concentration is needed for the personal productivity, isn't it? –  TheRebelAquarius Dec 2 '11 at 12:54
@AnishaKaul I understand your point about concentration as an aspect of personal productivity, but based on your question the reason you're having trouble concentrating is not related to the topic of the site. If you were having trouble deciding what tasks to do, or how to keep track of your commitments it would be more on-topic. Here, the issue seems to be you've been greatly affected by reading about the holocaust and war, but this site isn't built to attract experts who can help with that and I don't think there's really a productivity-related question here. –  Adam Wuerl Dec 2 '11 at 18:44
You're most welcome. I was trying hard to make sure that you didn't feel that folks suggesting the question isn't a good fit for this site didn't mean that you're not dealing with a real problem and emotions. –  Adam Wuerl Dec 5 '11 at 1:24
show 2 more comments

closed as not a real question by Rory Alsop, Adam Wuerl Dec 2 '11 at 18:36


3 Answers

up vote 2 down vote accepted

I have not had the problems you describe but I have struggled with emotions I don't like at times. What I try to do is to just accept the emotion and try to describe it in words. Why do I fell this way? What are the causes of this feeling? Does it resemble something I have been through earlier in my life? Writing it down or talking about it to someone. The next time it happens it is easier to accept the emotion and it won't affect me that much.

Remember that it is not a bad thing to be empathic - you just don't want it to influence your life.

share|improve this answer
add comment

There is not really anything you can do besides being a witness; just try to get over it.

If you really want, you could devote your life to solving such problems. You could invent ways to make these situations less possible, or become a police to apply the law or similar kind of jobs. Although your hyper sensitivity might make you a weak person in these kinds of jobs, you might want to forget about it...

But in general, you can't do a thing about it; don't let it take your life down...

Oh, and you might want to stop reading these kinds of material. :)


share|improve this answer
Thanks, that was encouraging. But is my sensitivity normal or ..? –  TheRebelAquarius Dec 2 '11 at 12:55
@AnishaKaul: I don't know. For one person, it affects him/her a lot. Another might not care at all... –  Tom Wijsman Dec 2 '11 at 13:35
add comment


Can I do something about it?

Sure, you could try to desensitize yourself to this through exposure. By subjecting to it regularly, it will eventually lose its sting though you may lose a part of yourself in the process.

Alternatively, you could look into various Emotional Intelligence tools on self-management that may help when it comes to controlling your emotions and understanding various triggers you have. Some of this is studying but a lot of it is application of various tools and using some cognitive behavior therapy for where you want to change your thought patterns.

share|improve this answer
add comment
