Detachment
I've found that when things get really hairy...when I'm in a situation with too many strong emotions bombarding me...I go the opposite way from my norm and become completely insensitive. I read Interview With The Vampire not so long ago, and I remember reading the term 'vampire eyes', and it struck me as just how I react to those situations. I become so detached to the rest of the world, as though I were the one immortal thing surrounded by all these meaningless mortal concerns. Grief over this inevitable death, shock over that childish act of terrorism... It all ceases to have any meaning, and I feel like a wanderer watching children over-react at the plight of a fallen bird. I continue to function in this way; letting nothing in, and feeling nothing on my own; for days or weeks, as the situation permits. I don't think any one person was meant to feel the pain of hundreds, and if it weren't for this reaction, I'd have long since died of others' grief. How do the rest of you react to things that cause a strong uniform reaction in those around you?