"Sympathetic Pains"

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"Sympathetic pains"--the term my mother used to refer to physical pain triggered by seeing something that looks painful (such as another person or other animal being injured)

For example, if I see someone step on a piece of glass and cut their right foot, I'll get a sharp pain in my right foot. Sometimes it's more intense than the pain would be if the injury happened to me. I used to experience the same thing during movies, but I've been able to get over that.

Does anyone else experience this? Do you experience it with animals or just humans? Does it only hurt to see images of painful things too?

This might be something that everyone experiences to some extent, but people often say I'm weird when I see something painful-looking and react as though it was happening to me.

I experienced something like this with my son once, I believe.

I have a stupid phobia of needles. I hate this phobia, because it makes me feel like a freaking weakling. The last several times I've had blood drawn, I passed out - cold.

My son is autistic, and needs to be sedated when I take him to the dentist. Once I made the mistake of watching the anesthesiologist put an IV in my son's arm (he was already quite tranqed). And I started getting that same freaking feeling like I was going to pass out, which starts with my limbs going numb. I didn't actually pass out, but I did have to go into the bathroom there, close the door, and sit on the floor for about 20 minutes taking deep breaths.

I'm not sure how well this qualifies with what you're describing. It may have more to do with my stupid needle phobia. But generally speaking, I don't have that much of a problem with watching other people get poked; I suspect in the case that I described, a strong sympathetic connection was an element in what happened to me.

Good fortune,

- Icarus will invent a functional hypo spray...

i dont think i have any phobias/ sometimes i'll freak out if im dirty but that rarely happens.

I am mostly hyper-sensitive to animals physical or even emotional distress.This is one of the worst parts with working with animals(current job)as the animals are destressed just being there(seperated from the people,surrounded by barking dogs,etc).I try and comfort the as a way of comforting myself(self-interest but also really love them).

People being hurt,I am more emotionally detached...my instinct seems more "problem solving and wanting to play nurse".I still want for them to not be in pain but I'm not feeling as much internal distress.The exception is children and the "vulnerable" in which case I feel I AM them and get over whelmed if I can't help them.Pretty hard to explain but it has been a real problem in many of the social service jobs I have had,when I am in a position of not being able to help.It also makes me feel rageful when I see the indifference of many of my co-workers.I had to quit my last job because of this...it was driving me nuts and I was having major melt-downs at work.

i am the opposite, I cannot empathise with any physical pain, but im a sucker for anyone's emotional pain.

especially when im watching hockey. it's so dumb. my team will score and i'll be like "YEAH WE SCORED!! !!" then immediatly after I will feel this antagonising heart renching feeling and then say "aww poor goalie, he looks so sad!"

I know it's the dumbest thing ever. It drives my family wild if the watch the game with me.

I didn't even know that physical empathy was possible.
I've never heard of it, never experienced it.
Is this something I should have been aware of??

I'm like that too, only I don't feel it as strongly as the person actually experiencing the pain.

Just hearing something painful being described bothers me a lot.

I could never be a doctor or nurse.

Yeah, I don't think I'm very emotionally empathetic, but like everything, it depends on the situation.

This physical empathy thing only applies to injuries, for me. It doesn't happen when I see a person or animal that is sick. I think it's about equal with animals and with humans. It's sort of unpredictable too.

Wow, I get painful deep cold chills whenever I see an injury/operation/etc., usually on the non-hair side of my forearms when it's not also in the respective area involved with the other person.

However, I get annoyed by (or just feel apathetic about) emotional "injury" more often than not, and even if I can relate to somebody's experience or feelings, I just don't want to be subjected to pity-seeking.

Like with my cat... I've seen it struggling like mad a few times and something triggers off some sympathy.

I don't feel physical pain when I someone else get injured. I get a squeamish feeling. The dictionary describes squeamish as being nauseas, but that's not quite it. It’s definitely not nausea, but I’m not sure how to describe it. It’s more like a hollow tickly sensation that comes deep inside my bones and a certain light feeling inside my chest. I call it the "ick" sensation. Makes me want to tense up and clutch myself or curl up in the fetal position.

I get a sympathetic pain when I see any serious injury. It is a strange, tingling ache in my upper thighs. It is no exactly painful, but it is extremely distressing. It tend to occur when I see images of damaged gentalia; i.e. female castration or childbirth, although I experience it when I see extreme violent imagery, such as bones being broken, limbs snapped and faces smashed in.

I watched Pan's Labyrinth last night and I had quite a few of these reactions.