What happened to me today?

[waterbridge]

I was out and about in a busy town centre for about 3 hours. I then got on a bus home. Just after the journey started I suddenly felt very down and depressed.

It felt like I had a heavy grey blanket weighing me down over the head and shoulders and my heart was heavy as a sandbag and felt dark.

I felt very down and sad at the same time. Also, every noise on the bus seemed magnified, and I was flinching at every little thing. Movements on the corner of my eye were also making me a bit jumpy. Everything just seemed frantic and loud. I felt as if I were about to burst out crying.

We had planned to out tonight and I knew there was no way I could go. Then about 15 minutes before the journey ended, the feelings started to recede and I felt a bit better.

By the time I got home it just felt a bit edgy. I went to bed, even though I wasn't tired, but I did fall asleep.

I've never felt this combination of things before and cannot think of a logical reason why it happened.

Can anyone shed any light?

I mean it sounds like you got sensory overload, perhaps combined with low blood sugar or something?

I get that, I assume it's my version of a panic attack. I also get it without the fear, just a wave of complete sadness. Bloody brains.

I did have more one to one human interaction than I expected today. And the bus was crowded. I think maybe it was sensory overload? I've not felt quite like that before though.

I did wonder if it was a panic attack but no breathing difficulties etc.

I had not long had a latte so I don't think it was blood sugar.

Are you psychic or a empath? That’s apparently what it feels like when you’re feeling what someone else is suffering. .

I’ve had that exact feeling sat next to sick people.. you maybe picking up on an illness?

Sounds to me like when I'm about to hit autistic burnout again! :( It could have been sensory overwhelm plus cognitive load.

I was going to say it sounds like perhaps an extreme sensitivity to someone else's emotions, especially if it came on/ended suddenly with no clear reason. I know it sounds a bit 'woo" but I'm sure this is a thing. Are you particularly sensitive to other people's moods? Would you say you "pick up' on feelings?

Makes sense to feel very tired after something like that.

I'd be thinking more towards epilepsy than being a psychic empath.

About 25 years ago I experienced this extreme, unexplainable and sudden sadness one night whilst staying at my mother's block of flats. I couldn't stop feeling sad and there was no good reason for it, I just felt so overwhelmed without any apparent stimuli for it. Basically cried myself to sleep and in the morning I woke up to the news that in the early hours of the morning someone had jumped to their death from a much higher floor. My mother said that I must have sensed her sense of despair. But I didn't know this woman. The whole thing freaked me out, but perhaps there is such thing as being an empath as PPs said.

A few years ago I was at an airport with my partner, we were going away for a short break. I remember this feeling of a heavy sadness and depression come over me, I couldn’t understand why. I continued to feel this way over the next few days and I felt like I didn’t even want to get out of bed I felt so low and tearful.

on the last day we were due to fly him I received a voice message from my friends partner saying that she had been taken ill and died in hospital the day before.

(By the way, I forgot to say I NC'd for this thread.)

Thank you everyone who replied and shared their experiences. I am sensitive to other people's moods. I have had a fair few experiences I myself would label as psychic in nature. I have dreamt things that have then happened, had very real feeling visits from people who have died and other things too hard or long to explain.

I have not had this happen to me before though. Because of my own past experiences, I am now wondering if I could have picked up on someone else's feelings on the bus? It was very crowded - mostly with teenagers in a very loud, excitable mood, probably because it was Friday! And the feeling notably subsided quite a bit about 15 minutes or so before the end of the journey. Maybe that coincided with someone getting off?

Normally to much interaction for too long does make me extremely tired but not yesterday, which is a bit odd. Yet, I went to lie down just spend some time on my own and before I knew it I was waking up from a dreamless sleep. That in itself is a bit unusual as I seem to always dream when I sleep.

I have just looked into signs of epilepsy and there are definitely a few similarities, such as changes in awareness and fear, but not enough to point to that.

I feel normal today and it already feels like some weird dream!

I think it's just being human in this chaotic world. Lots of reasons why this could have happened but it's not uncommon. Try and find some peace and quiet this weekend.

In a way it is a relief that the sadness is gone, but isn't it weird to feel someone else's sadness without actually talking with them? Or even knowing them? That's what i kept thinking at the time.

Thank you. Yes, we have been out today and deliberately tried to avoid areas with lots of people. I feel much calmer today.

Have you eaten much today or did you have coffee on an empty stomach?

I feel enormously sorry for a person who feels that way. I would say it wasn't too far away from feeling like you wanted to end your life. It was that heavy and dark, practically unbearable.

If I really was feeling someone else's sadness, maybe it was because the person was adolescent and possibly more intense and emotional than usual? I
really don't know and am probably being fantastical but I just remember reading the poltergeist activity often centres around adolescents.

I remember when I was about 14 staring at the door knob of a closed bedroom door in our house intently for about 5 minutes until it literally twisted, and the door opened by itself. It only happened once but I never forgot it!

I had a bacon sandwich this morning then coffee afterwards. We drove out to the lake and parked up for a while. We listened to classical music while we ate an ice cream! A much nicer day today🙂🍦

Sorry didn't see the date on your OP, I was asking about yesterday as sometimes I feel very odd if I have caffeine on an empty stomach and/or when I'm dehydrated. I can feel anxious and overwhelmed, but some other people can feel it as "caffeine doom". Sounds like you had a lovely day today! I'm jealous of the lake and ice cream :)

Ah, yes it was on an empty stomach. I do that fairly often as I can't face much before 11am. But I also had two coffees that day as I was out and about. It was over an hour between that second coffee and getting on the bus.

I've never noticed coffee affect me that way before, but maybe it was a perfect storm. I really hope it doesn't happen again, whatever reason. It was horrible.