Empathic/phantom pain - is this normal?

[thinkkook]

The last couple of years or so, maybe longer, I will feel pain that's not real - circumstances such as -

• someone else jumps off a wall I feel pain in my feet at the landing
• pain in my feet if I see someone else hurt - in real life, on TV or even just now (which has prompted me to post this) on a pop up cartoon advert whereby a plant pot lands on someone's head.
• pain when walking bare feet over a floor without shoes on - but not actual pain if that makes sense or sitting on the loo seat!

Etc

What the hell is wrong with me? Google says phantom pain is when you're missing a limb and there's stuff about empathic pain but I don't even know if that's it.

Is this normal? Does everyone get this or am I just unfortunate?

I've heard of this mentioned alongside things like synesthesia in science podcasts I've listened to.
Don't know anything more about it though.

A type of quirk of the neurological wiring basically

It's getting me down a bit lately as it can hit quite frequently. It's so weird as it's pain but not... and that doesn't even make sense!

Sounds hard work and unpleasant!
People with synesthesia get studied, maybe you could volunteer to be a 'specimen' and see if they can shed some light. 😁

Pain is super complex and interesting. We each have a ‘body map’ in the brain called a humunculous and nerve fibres link to different zones of the body. When we sensitise an area the map that part expands (e.g. the fingers on the map for pianists or brail readers will be larger). It sounds to me like the map in your brain for your feet has become larger and sensitised.. not sure if there is a reason for this? Have you injured your feet in the past that has had a significant impact on you or your life? Graded motor imagery can help… have a look at the NOI site.

A man called lorimer mosely has done a lot of research in this area, he has many papers and books but I would really recommend ‘painful Yarns’ which helps to explain the complexities of pain through real life people examples.

I think I have this - I get an unpleasant sensation in my lower abdomen. It's like almost pain. I've had it for years now and it started after my first pregnancy. It's very weird. Like I see someone fall over and my stomach hurts. Not sure if this is the same but I can kind of relate anyway!

I get empathy pains down the back of my legs if I see other people hurt themselves (eg, falling over); oddly enough I don’t get it watching actors in films/tv but I do get it watching something like you’ve been framed - so there must be some psychological component that relates to me knowing that the person feels pain

Pain is very weird. I have a pain condition where my brain thinks other things (heat/cold, touch) are pain, but it also will tell me that my arm is being rained on when I'm sitting in the car for instance

I understand the "pain but not" thing. When I am talking about trauma I experienced as a child I feel an intense pain in my solar plexus but this is also "pain but not". It is like being stabbed but not an actual physical pain.

It's an excessive empathy thing. Would you describe yourself as thin skinned/over sensitive? Are you hyper vigilant?

I have become less resilient with age and stress, so I'd suggest taking active measures to manage your boundaries.

Work on desensitising yourself to things that aren't you.
Use active stress management techniques, meditation type activities, to help you stay calm and focused and aware of the you and not you of the world.

It's exhausting if you can't keep the outside world at bay.

Look up the whole 'highly sensitive people' thing.

On here, suffering an excess of empathy gets very short shift. It's considered to be bragging about being special, claiming to be better than other people.

It really isn't. It's an irritating inconvenience/debilitating condition!

Reminds me of this I watched this morning
https://www.facebook.com/reel/741992596985564?sfnsn=scwspmo

It's Facebook "Fake hand experiment" if you don't want to click a link.

Another one here who gets a horrible pain in the back of my calves when I feel sorry for someone, started when I was about 4 and has never gone away. Makes me feel less weird knowing others have it too!