Comfortable Shielding Levels

[The Devil's Advocate]

We've discussed, many times prior, whether or not people have to shield constantly or sporadically or never. A slightly different angle occured to me: What level of shielding is too much?

For myself, if I block out the world utterly and completely I start getting claustrophobic. There is a certain level of 'white noise' that is natural and it is possible to block off to such a degree that it's hard to tell, empathically that there is another living thing on the planet. I've read a little into sensory depravation and it would be roughly the equivilent of going blind or deaf temporarily as far as psychological impact.

So how much is 'too much' or 'too closed off'. You've got mine.

~The Devil's Advocate

[ymom182]

i like the world for all its worth even though it can be overwhelming at times
i messed around with shields but they left me feeling more isolated than i was comfortable with.

[The Devil's Advocate]

*nods* I know the feeling. I had the oposite problem though. It's shield or go under for me. I recomend practicing with shields anyway. If your sensitivity goes up enough (or, heaven forbid, you get attacked) it's a very good skill to have.

~The Devil's Advocate

[innerfire]

*nods* My sensitivity is starting to go up to the point where I get a little too affected if someone else is having problems around me, for my own sake I've gotten into the habit of setting my shield to lock out a person if they start getting nuts around me because it just affects me too much :\

And yes, as to shielding I try to keep one up all the time

[TC]

Just a quick question to add without derailing the post: Do you think that there are some instances where temporary psionic "blindness" is a good thing? Like for example if you are doing something that needs an extraordinary amount of concentration.

[wolfdancer]

I have been in one situation where psionic "blindness" was beneficial. However, the next day it felt like something was incredibly wrong and I had to break the shields down to feel I could "breath" again.

Usually though if I totally shield I can't stand it. I am used to connecting to people on a certain level and if I can't get that input I go insane.

~Wolf

[The Devil's Advocate]

I have never been in a situation where total psionic "Blindness" was more benificial than being open enough to see what was going on. It is more distracting to be THAT blind than some attacks have been. If you would like to discuss that further, it would probably be best to start another thread. I'll chime in when I see it.

TC, care to answer the question in addition to posing your own?

~The Devil's Advocate

[wolfdancer]

For me if I can sense the general feel without specifics through my shields, I'm happy. I like a nice muted impression of the world around me except when I choose to accept more.

*I realized I'd forgotten to answer the original question, or hadn't to my satisfaction.

~Wolf

[TC]

Yeah, sorry DA. I didn't have an answer quite then, but I didn't want to forget the question. I should probably do that next time. Umm, I'd have to say that since I'm not extremely sensitive, I don't really need that extra protection that some people need to put into their shields. I like being shielded, but I definitely don't need to put a ton of programming, nor energy in my shields.

[The Devil's Advocate]

TC, just curious, but do you find it uncomfortable being TOO tightly shielded?

~The Devil's Advocate

[TC]

Well, I've never really attempted "maxing" out my shielding. But I'd have to say I'd probably get uncomfortable if the shield was too tight. I'm extremely claustrophobic (hope I spelt that right).