[isntlifewonderful]

So, it's a well known fact a majority of Borderlines (including myself) are empaths. As we experience feelings so intensely, it's easy for us to symphatize with other people, correct?
So I was wondering... I'm a vegetarian (on my way to becoming vegan), and so are the 2 other BPD people I know. I do believe this has a lot to do with our ability to emphatize with animals aswell as humans. Is this a common thing? Just curious, this is really nothing that important haha!
Have a nice day

[serolod]

Hi! I don't know the answer to that but I've been vegan for 2 years. Stopped eating any animal products literally over night and have been working on getting rid of other animal products over time.

I have another friend who's BPD, she's not vegan but she's heavy into activism... human rights.

Nice to meet you!

[waiting4]

I'm a pescatarian, actually. I don't eat meat but I do eat fish, seafood, eggs, dairy products. I don't eat meat but, I'm sorry, it's not because they have faces...or even because they have cute faces.

I quit eating meat overnight as well, but it was after reading a book, "The Family That Couldn't Sleep: a Medical Mystery" by D.T. Max. I originally found it after a documentary I'd seen regarding a very rare disease that affected a specific families (inherited) and was a prion disease similar to mad cow and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (and is believed to be a cause of Alzheimers) which basically causes holes in the brain not unlike swiss cheese. In the case of 'fatal insomnia' the affects are the same as the other two diseases internally, (but with different symptoms), because of the nature of the illness...however, mad cow (or Bovine Encephalitis) can be transmitted by eating infected meat from cows, where as the other two are generally inherited.

The book was facinating and disturbing, actually, but what worried me the most was the chapter on our own Agriculture Dept....the length that this dept would go to, to export meat that may have been infected (usually meat culled from the spine, or otherwise close to the bone) to another country after that country stated in no uncertain terms, if they discovered spine bones in the meat we sent they would refuse to ever do business with our meat producers again. That and a few other things, made me pretty much distrust the Dept of Agriculture in our country...period.

I make the book sound dry, but honestly it was a brilliant read, albeit scary...in any case, I'm much more aware of where my food comes from and what I choose to eat...and yes, there is worry over mercury in fish but the levels are so much lower than Americans are led to believe (again, be a wise shopper and don't buy from unknown sources) that I feel comfortable eating it.

Btw...the ONLY country which has had no incidence of bovine encephalitis...is Australia. And they are very very careful to keep it that way!!

Great question!

[Kimaya]

I am not one, but I feel that eating animals is wrong. It is something I will have to come to terms with someday. I know that probably doesn't make any sense, but thats all I can say.

I feel pain and sometimes cry when I kill a really sary bug, spider or a bee... and I try to only do it with a them or me mindset. We are getting a bugnet. I currently try to touch/save the ones I am ok with. I recently tried to save a spider in my tub with a little corner of tissue but I killed him on accident because he was so wet/small... It stayed with me for a week.

[trying2survive]

Originally Posted by Kimaya

I am not one, but I feel that eating animals is wrong. It is something I will have to come to terms with someday. I know that probably doesn't make any sense, but thats all I can say.

I feel pain and sometimes cry when I kill a really sary bug, spider or a bee... and I try to only do it with a them or me mindset. We are getting a bugnet. I currently try to touch/save the ones I am ok with. I recently tried to save a spider in my tub with a little corner of tissue but I killed him on accident because he was so wet/small... It stayed with me for a week.

too funny, i won't kill insects either..i actually talk to them!

[sideblinded]

This is a interesting thread to me. I have an innate sense of feeling for animals. It hurts me deeply to see an animal lost, in pain, cry, just about any emotion I sense from them. Just the other day I saw a dead bird and I turned it on it's side as if to comfort it. I saw a worm trying to make it across the hot sidewalk and I picked it up and carted it off to the shaded cool grass. I think we as BPDers empathize with struggles, loneliness and pain because we ourselves live it on a daily basis. We also empathize with people who are also struggling.

[sideblinded]

Originally Posted by Kimaya

I am not one, but I feel that eating animals is wrong. It is something I will have to come to terms with someday. I know that probably doesn't make any sense, but thats all I can say.

I feel pain and sometimes cry when I kill a really sary bug, spider or a bee... and I try to only do it with a them or me mindset. We are getting a bugnet. I currently try to touch/save the ones I am ok with. I recently tried to save a spider in my tub with a little corner of tissue but I killed him on accident because he was so wet/small... It stayed with me for a week.

I understand and this made me chuckle....lol.....

[Lefty_Mac]

I am a vegetarian too (my favorite vegetable is tobacco) - but seriously, since I stopped eating because of the major crisis I went thru, and I have a British bulldog that I don't see in two months because I'm afraid he'll sense the negativeness, the pain....dogs are special. They know more than one thinks they know, and if I should quote a great man, "you should see the kindness of a dog the way a human should be''....

I'm rambling, so back to the point, my mother (bless her) tries her best to feed me, and I just won't eat...until I discovered the cause - meat. I still eat very little (lost 30 pounds in one month), and I discovered that soup is the best food I can eat...as long as it doesn't have parts of PEOPLE in it. I refuse to believe in this 'food chain' bull, because, when a creature bites you, he's being sincere, but humans stab each each others on the back, so what to think of what THEY think of what they consider lesser creatures?

"Lesser" my ***, if I can survive with dairy and soy, why should I take part on surviving on what's done with INTENT and NO MERCY? Alas, I'm not fond of fruit, but tomatoes, taro, yams, potatoes, beans, cabbage, lettuce, beet, tofu. etc. etc. and etc., I LOVE these. I just find meat of any kind disgusting cos it reminds me of death.

[Kimaya]

Originally Posted by trying2survive

too funny, i won't kill insects either..i actually talk to them!

I only talk to the cute ones... XDDD Like jumping spiders have a place in my heart.

[Kimaya]

Originally Posted by SideBlinded

This is a interesting thread to me. I have an innate sense of feeling for animals. It hurts me deeply to see an animal lost, in pain, cry, just about any emotion I sense from them. Just the other day I saw a dead bird and I turned it on it's side as if to comfort it. I saw a worm trying to make it across the hot sidewalk and I picked it up and carted it off to the shaded cool grass. I think we as BPDers empathize with struggles, loneliness and pain because we ourselves live it on a daily basis. We also empathize with people who are also struggling.

Yes, when they are struggling It is hard for me to bear. I understand too.. although you're braver than me with the worms! I am very distressed usually after a rain though when outside, any step could lead to the death of a struggling creature. My eyes are on the ground...

I'm a vegetarian, and I feel empathy for animals more than I feel empathy for most humans. Also I feel empathy for bugs.

[sideblinded]

Originally Posted by Kimaya

Yes, when they are struggling It is hard for me to bear. I understand too.. although you're braver than me with the worms! I am very distressed usually after a rain though when outside, any step could lead to the death of a struggling creature. My eyes are on the ground...

You made me smile

[sideblinded]

Originally Posted by nevergoodenough

I'm a vegetarian, and I feel empathy for animals more than I feel empathy for most humans. Also I feel empathy for bugs.

I understand the more empathy for creatures, I really do!