All my life, I've had these "feelings" that I couldn't understand.  i would get angry for no reason.  I would suddenly be depressed or happy, or nervous or just shaken and I couldn't understand why I felt that way.  I was married for 19 years to a man with enough mental illness that he would have huge mood swings and everytime he did, he would carry me right along with him.  I was miserable.  Then a few months ago, while in quiet meditation, I heard a small voice say,"You are a "sensitive.  You pick up on the feelings of those around you. It's important to be careful who you are with because of this."   I am since, separated from my husband, and I find those wild mood swings left with him.  This is my only issue now, I still pick up on  the feelings of those close to me.  Sometimes, a feeling comes over me and just holds on to me and I can't shake it.  I will be afraid of something or nervous and really shaken by something but I can't understand why.  It happens while I am at work quite often.  I work in a hospital setting so it would make sense that I might pick up on some pretty bad vibes while I'm there.  What I need to know is how to get this under control a bit.  I understand that this is really a gift.  That by using this gift, I can reach out and empathize with the people around me. But, I also need to be able to know who to help and how to control the feelings enough so I am not so shaken that I can't function.  I can actually feel it lift off of me at times.  It starts at one moment and can last for a few hours and then just all of a sudden, it's like someone just lifted a heavy burden off of my back and I can breathe again.

Does anyone have any answers on this?  Have you had this sort of experience in your life also?  And how do you contain it?