The Sensitive Person's Survival Guide: An Alternative Health Answer to Emotional Sensitivity & Depression [Paperback]

Kyra Mesich Psy.D. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 24, 2000

"The Sensitive Person's Survival Guide is an outstanding contribution to body-mind healing and has our highest recommendation. Dr. Mesich explains the relationship between emotional sensitivity and psychic awareness in clear, accessible language, showing that such abilities should not be discredited but rather developed as genuine gifts."-Patricia Kaminski, Executive Director, The Flower Essence SocietyThe Sensitive Person's Survival Guide presents a radically new way of looking at emotional sensitivity, chronic depression and anxiety. Through her own experiences and courageous research, Dr. Kyra Mesich, a traditionally-trained psychologist, found that psychic sensitivity is the underlying key to understanding emotional sensitivity. Dr. Mesich focuses on empathic ability (also known as psychic feeling), which is the ability to literally feel other people's emotional experiences. This misunderstood ability often results in recurrent depression, anxiety and the painful aspects of emotional sensitivity due in part to society's denial and repression of the existence of psychic phenomena. With simple, down-to-earth language and examples, The Sensitive Person's Survival Guide demystifies empathic ability and explains the relationship between emotional sensitivity and psychic sensitivity.Readers learn specific alternative health remedies and practices to immediately implement in their own lives to rebalance their sensitivity and reconnect with their empathic ability. Armed with this knowledge, readers will experience relief from mysterious lifelong emotional suffering and turn their sensitivity into strength and joy! "People suffer in countless ways from their sensitivity, depression being the most common, and most are never properly diagnosed, only medicated. The Sensitive Person's Survival Guide gave me a ray of hope that the day is coming when the maladies of empathic p

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Offers a new option for handling tough problems." -- Foreword Magazine, December 2000

An original and compelling contribution to students of alternative medicine, metaphysical studies, and self-help reading lists. -- Midwest Book Review, April 2001

From the Inside Flap

“People suffer in countless ways from their sensitivity, depression being the most common, and most are never properly diagnosed, only medicated. Reading The Sensitive Person’s Survival Guide gave me a ray of hope that the day is coming when the maladies of empathic people will be taken seriously and treated in a more realistic way.” — Echo Bodine, author of 'Echoes of the Soul'

Are you emotionally sensitive? Do you suffer from depression or anxiety? Do you know why?

The answers are finally all here in The Sensitive Person’s Survival Guide. Dr. Kyra Mesich has blended the best of alternative medicine and psychology to provide a new, fascinating explanation and successful treatment for recurrent psychological distress.

Did you know that a simple, side-effect-free, alternative health remedy holds the key to emotional healing? Did you know that empathic abilities underlie your emotional sensitivity? Want to learn more?

You won’t find the answers anywhere other than inside these pages where the truth about emotional sensitivity is revealed openly, honestly, and empathically.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse (July 24, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595098002
• ISBN-13: 978-0595098002
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #193,608 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

119 of 122 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars compelling anecdotal report, May 31, 2002

By A Customer

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This review is from: The Sensitive Person's Survival Guide: An Alternative Health Answer to Emotional Sensitivity & Depression (Paperback)

If you're a sensitive person with any sort of empathic experiences (picking up on other people's emotional states, sometimes so strongly that it's detrimental to your own peace of mind), you will be fascinated by this book-- as I was. There is no doubt in my mind that what Mesich describes is possible, because my own experiences are similar, though I'm not as vulnerable to other's emotions as she is. The idea that this empathic ability might contribute to recurring depression was a mind-blower to me, but immediately obvious once it was pointed out. It has completely shifted my own approach to dealing with depression, with very positive results (in the six weeks since I read it). *However*, if you share this book with your non-sensitive friends and family members, be prepared to endure skepticism and even ridicule. It's pretty "out there" for people who haven't had similar experiences. In fact, my only major objection to the book is that she writes as someone from "inside" the alternative medical field, without an objective standpoint to explain or defend her statements in a way that will stand up to those who by default, automatically dismiss anything not backed up by randomized double-blind studies with p of less than...whatever. :-) For people of this ilk, I'd recommend starting with one of Elaine Aron's books instead.

60 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Didn't know I was sensitive, but I was always sick., June 9, 2004

By 

K. Conner (BOULDER, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Sensitive Person's Survival Guide: An Alternative Health Answer to Emotional Sensitivity & Depression (Paperback)

I would like to add my story to the other comments. I never thought that I was a highly sensitive person when I picked up this book, but I have been sick my entire life (migraines, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, etc. etc. etc.)and have tried just about everything to make my life less painful. I decided to try the primary flower essence of Yarrow, per Dr. Mesich's recommendation. Within 2 days I started noticing dramatic changes in my health. I mean, really bizarre and unexpected changes. For example, I have always suffered from night sweats, and they vanished. It was usually painful to take a shower and shampoo because my skin was too sensitive, and all of a sudden my skin no longer felt raw. I have always worn glacier sunglasses, because my eyes hurt, even on a cloudy day, and that symptom vanished also.

I purchased some more of the "protection" flower essences she recommends, and each worked in a different way, but they made my health even stronger, I had more energy, I had less headaches, etc. It was only after my health improved that I was able to notice my extreme sensitivity to certain things, such as noise, and negative people. I had been so ill most of the time, that I didn't know what my triggers were. My health had simply been overwhelmed.

I've made more physical progress in 3 months than in the last 20 years, and all because of this book. It would take pages to describe all the changes in my body and health that have happened, and are still happening.

If you or anyone you know is perpetually ill with one thing or another, ***get this book and try it***.

45 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Developing Positive Sensitivity, August 5, 2003

By 

Jann (Nevada City, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sensitive Person's Survival Guide: An Alternative Health Answer to Emotional Sensitivity & Depression (Paperback)

The biggest question sensitive people have is, why are they so sensitive, why do they react so differently to the world than the "average" person? In her book, The Sensitive Person's Survival Guide, Dr. Kyra Mesich effectively tackles that question, and also provides information for living with the empathic abilities that are inherent in all of us. Based on her own personal experiences of debilitating sensitivity while working as a psychologist, she discovered that visualization, meditation and flower essence therapy are crucial components in the development of positive sensitivity and empathy.

Dr. Mesich believes that sensitivity is an issue of our times; it touches all types of personalities, ages, economic levels--it crosses all boundaries, and is therefore confusing to psychologists and people in general. People who work as nurses, doctors, health practitioners, teachers, lawyers, counselors--all people who try to impact other people in a positive way--are especially susceptible to experiencing dysfunctional effects of empathy if they are not aware of the phenomenon. Additionally, emotional sensitivity is more often activated in situations with people who mirror our own emotional pain or psychological issues. By not understanding the nature of sensitivity, it can result in recurrent anxiety or depression.

This book, containing actual case examples of empathic children and adults, provides valuable insight and explanations for many people who have not yet discovered the source of their emotional pain. Various chapters focus on how to ease empathy so it does not feel painfully overwhelming, how to be more aware of empathic communication--which will prevent confusion with one's own emotions--and how to positively develop empathy for the useful information it can provide. This is a very readable book containing illuminating, useful, and, for many people, comforting and healing information.