Empath series: Beware of the holiday depression or Merry Christmas.

Empath ChatroomIt’s almost Christmas time.

Generally, it’s the period where people are happier and even the more hard-nosed of people tend to mellow out. Families gather, gifts are exchanged and we all eat way too much food.

Generally.

It’s also a time of great loneliness for many.

There are so many out there who feel lost and alone.

People who may have no one to be with during the holiday period.  Perhaps they have no family. Maybe they don’t feel they have friends. Perhaps they are at the age where everyone has left and all they have are memories of how wonderful things used to be when they were younger.

Maybe things aren’t going well in their life due to work situations, health, money, fears about loved ones or they just don’t feel they fit in and everyone is having one big, joyous party but them.

Even if you’re not a Christian. Even if you’re not religious. That sense of being alone will be intensified during those few weeks.

As Empaths, we are particularly vulnerable to those energies.

As December started, I started to see more and more people comment that they felt something bad was happening and they were feeling down without any obvious reason.

I believe they are picking up on those many others who feel alone.

The holiday season is a very big time for depression and many Empaths can’t wait for it to be done with so things can get back to normal.

For those of you who feel this pain, just remember you are not alone. There are many others out there who feel the same way, and many others who endure what seems like a torturous few weeks.

Just know that there are many ways to connect and support each other such as Empath forums, blogs or chat rooms.

I also have a free ad-free chatroom for this specific purpose. It has been open for the past five or so years. You don’t even need to register to login. You can just type in a name and join as a guest.

This is one of my gifts and services to the Empath community, so if you feel like trying to connect to others, please feel free to visit and say hi.

The room ebbs and flows with the amount of people who are there, but there are certainly people there every day, depending on the time.

Remember, you are not alone, and there is a lot of support for those who seek it.

You can find the Empath Chat Room at this link.

http://www.psi-zone.net/oldchat.html (or just click on the picture above.)

It requires Java to run (as do most chat of this kind.)

You can sign in as a guest by just typing a name into the User Name section or you can register a password protected name by using the ‘create new user account’ link underneath it.

The only rules are courtesy and validation.

Hope we get to see a few there.

Empath Series: Psychic burnout or I’m too exhausted to think of anything witty to write here.

Psychic burnoutI took some well-earned vacation this month. (Hence the lack of blogs.)

As usual, I find that I tend to collapse into a heap, and while the body is willing, the spirit is not.

In this state, even thinking is an effort and answering questions is difficult. It’s even hard to read anything longer than a paragraph, and forget about writing anything.

I call this psychic burnout.

It occurs when you do too much, for too long, without a break.

Personally, I seem to arrive at it every eighteen months or so with generally fourteen or so months where I start to feel the exhaustion.

Psychic burn out is mostly borne of frustration that you feel like you are being used and depleted, and there is no end in sight, or even any recognition that you’ve moved a mountain or two.

People would certainly experience this type of thing in their day jobs, especially if they are good at it, but receive little or no recognition.

If you’re trying to be spiritual, you will tend to resist the urge to say or do anything about it, however, this leads to anger and frustration, and the sense that you are not allowed to let yourself go, and then frustration at the fact that you don’t allow yourself to get angry.

You may even feel like shouting at people who won’t leave you alone: What part of f*&# off don’t you understand? But still you don’t, in case you hurt or offend someone.

In Bach Flower Remedy terms, this is known as a Cherry Plum state: The fear of letting go.

The psychic burnout state is a horribly frustrating one to be in because it stops you from doing what you want.

It literally hurts to try and think about answers or subject that you have no clue about. (I liken it to a psychic knife in the third eye area.)

There are several reasons this occurs, the main one being that you’ve been running on empty for too long.

If you are an Empath, and you are often connecting to others to try and help them, reaching the burn out level happens too easily, especially if the flow only goes one way.

Generally, while the desire to help others is always there, there is only so much you can do.

I find the remedies that help her are:

  • Cherry Plum: Fear of letting go.
  • Olive: Exhaustion
  • Elm: Feeling overwhelmed.
  • Oak: Being pushed past your limits
  • Holly: Getting angry, and then repressing your answer and get annoyed every time someone tries to get you attention.
  • Impatiens: When you start to feel irritated with everything.
  • Red Chestnut: Concern about others.
  • Willow: If you feel hard done by.

Next: The type of calls for help that I get.

Empath Series – Bach flower remedy: More on Elm or what else does it do?

English elm tree, Ulmus procera, at the Morton...

I thought I’d continue on with the remedy Elm today.

There are many levels to each remedy, and Elm certainly is no exception.

If anyone has any requests on what remedy can help what, let me know and I’ll feature it sooner than later.

The Symptoms of an Elm type:

  • Temporarily loss of confidence in doing a job one is capable of.
  • Despondency.
  • Feels overwhelmed by too many tasks.
  • Exhaustion
  • A sense of panic that there is too much to do.
  • Self-esteem may be affected.

The Elm type is one who is very capable of doing a job, and doing it well. They have tenacity, endurance, and intelligence.

Sometimes they stress because they suddenly feel they cannot accomplish the task set before them.

This can be due to too much pressure, or exhaustion. 

Often an Elm type can be heard to say ‘I don’t know how I’m going to get this done.’, however, they always manage to get it done in the end, and breathe a sigh of relief… until the next time, which is often the next day.

Parents who are trying to look after their children often feel exhausted, and as there is no foreseeable solution (as you can’t exactly shut your children out, nor would you really want to) it’s a daily battle.

Also, there is the carer who looks after their sick relatives, and has no time for their own lives. So much to do, and so little time to get it done in.

Elm can be a great help in these type of circumstances. 

This remedy is especially useful when you have too many tasks coming in and too many interruptions.

The empath has another level to consider. That is being overwhelmed by many feelings at the same time. This may happen in crowds or parties or even world events such as elections, disasters or incidences where emotions run high. It’s made even worse when you have several friends who are all going through a bad time.

One of the traits of an empath is that they can’t handle being at parties, in a mall or at a large festival or celebration, such as new year’s eve, where alcohol and energies fly about like there’s no tomorrow.

Elm is the remedy that helps you cope with all waves of things that threaten to overwhelm you. Taking Elm will help you cope with the stress and the feeling of panic and the belief that you can’t cope. It will aid you in calming and centring your emotions and thoughts and get through the busy times where too much is really going on.

Empath Series – Bach flower remedy: Elm – The remedy for being overwhelmed or I dropped the eggs.

elmOne of the complaints from Empaths that I hear a lot is that they often feel overwhelmed by too many feelings and emotions.

So much so, it drives them nuts. It is a very real problem, and causes all kinds of issues, including psychic burnout.

You might liken it to one of those old egg catching games from the early 1980s. Eggs would come from four different directions, and you would catch them. Over the course of the game, they would get faster and faster. Let three eggs fall and it was game over.

Depending on your skill and stamina, you could last a long time but eventually fatigue would kick in, and you’d drop the eggs, normally in rapid succession.

To take it a step further, it also can be likened to doing too many jobs at work when you’re short staffed, or understaffed. Unless you are amazingly skilled, you will eventually hit a point where you suddenly no longer are coping, and just going through the motions.

Mistakes happen and you collapse into a heap, exhausted and sick.

230px-MickeyMouse

This is what it can be like for the Empath on a daily basis. They are hit by too many energies all at once and they go into a toxic, psychic overload where it literally hurts to even think.

To make matters worse, the people around them tend to get angry that their demands aren’t being met, and put additional pressure on the Empath. If there is any protest, they will ask to ignore everyone… but themselves.

Psychic burnout can and often does lead to long term illnesses and mental breakdowns.

Fortunately for the Empath, the Bach Flower Remedy, Elm, will help with those feelings of too much, too soon, too overwhelming.

When taking it, the sense of panic and exhaustion lifts, and a sense of calm and organization tends to take its place.

Elm is a remedy worth keeping in the Empath’s first aid kit. It also works well with Oak (when someone is pushed past their limits) and Olive (long and short term exhaustion.)

It’s saved my bacon on a number of occasions!