# Feeling bad for inanimate objects



## zomgz

_animism_
_n._ 

 The belief in the existence of individual spirits that inhabit natural objects and phenomena.

Does anyone else feel bad for inanimate objects? Like if I see stuffed animals given to dogs and all ripped up and stuff I feel really bad for it.


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## shyshisho

As a kid I felt this. Once my dad took us shopping for an electric organ and I recommended the smallest, least functional one because I felt sorry for it.


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## PlayerOffGames

^ i have one of those in my jacket pocket...without any scraps of meat of course...itreminds me that one day my body will die...but only the body :boogie


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## millenniumman75

In what sense do you feel bad? Is it the way it is produced? Or is it "awww, you poor stuffed dog, I wish you could bark"? :stu


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## SilentLoner

Wierd, I have felt that too. Thought I think its quite different than animism.

I would feel bad if my bike were outside and it was cold, for example.


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## nothing to fear

i used to feel bad for inanimate objects when i was younger. i would feel guilty if there was a toy i never played with, or if there were coathangers at the back of my closet i never used, etc. hahaha.


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## pita

YES, totally. I always have. Brave Little Toaster is probably the saddest movie I've ever seen. And I cried more during Wall-E than I would have if Wall-E had been a human. I have a stuffed animal that I've had for years, and it makes me so sad to see him all worn out.

It's one of the weird things my bf and I have in common. He worries about inanimate objects being lonely or feeling unloved. There was a cake in his fridge that nobody was eating, so he ate it all so that the cake would know it was tasty.


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## nothing to fear

aww. i remember feeling so sad for my bear when i stopped keeping it out on my bed, and would keep it under and eventually in my closet. i felt like i was rejecting a very close friend who had no one else to turn to, i would even have to cover his face a little so that i didn't have to see it and feel sad every time i'd open my closet : (


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## AussiePea

when I was younger, I had a massive whinge when my parents replaced my old desk with a new one. I felt sad for the desk because it would be going to the dump and getting torn up.

oh dear.


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## Squizzy

We learned in our developmental class that this is something that very young children experience. I still feel this way though, pretty strongly, too. For example, I adore my stuffed bears. My boyfriend gets them for me after we have a big fight because he knows they instantly cheer me up, and he gets me huge ones for Valentine's Day. He used to throw them on the floor or lay on them like pillows and I would get very upset. Also, one time he won me a stuffed bear at a carnival game and when we got back home, I left the bear in the car and I had to go back because it was cold and I felt bad leaving that poor bear alone.

Another time, very early in our relationship I had given him a tiny panda bear as a gift because his nickname is Panda. Years later I remembered it and asked him about it. The previous night, he had been cleaning his room and tossed it in the garbage. I was very upset and because I was so sad, he went out and dug through the dumpster at 3 AM to save that little bear. We still have it to this day 



> YES, totally. I always have. Brave Little Toaster is probably the saddest movie I've ever seen. And I cried more during Wall-E than I would have if Wall-E had been a human. I have a stuffed animal that I've had for years, and it makes me so sad to see him all worn out.


I cry every time I see Brave Little Toaster  And I still have my stuffed Minne Mouse my parents got me when I was a baby, she is threadbare too and it makes me upset


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## quiet0lady

As a young kid I did. I distinctly remember feeling bad for the stuffed animals that I didn't give attention to... or eating grapes and as I took one off the bunch, feeling bad for taking it away from it's "friends" haha oh goodness, all the unnecessary shame and guilt I went through as a kid.


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## nothing to fear

Squizzy said:


> Also, one time he won me a stuffed bear at a carnival game and when we got back home, I left the bear in the car and I had to go back because it was cold and I felt bad leaving that poor bear alone.


awww  i was so sad when my cat died a few weeks ago, the vet couldn't take her that day so we still had to keep her body over night and the best place was outside in the car (temperature and because of the other pets inside) and i felt so bad for leaving her in there overnight in the cold even though she wasn't alive and had died that day. :/


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## heyJude

Oh gosh, yes. I feel bad for stuffed animals that never get played with or sold in stores..sitting on the shelves all alone. I always feel like I have to buy them, but have to stop and snap myself out of it. and I also can't seem to throw out any of the stuffed bears I had when I was a kid.

I also have this thing with vegetables. I always have to eat EVERY single piece of vegetable on my plate, not leaving behind even a corn kernel because I feel bad that they were grown and served to me for nothing if I didn't eat it...:/


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## Noskat

Yep, I find myself doing this from time to time. Sometimes I want to criticize some consumer object, but I hold back because in some weird cosmic sense, I feel like that would be cruel.


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## zomgz

Wow I'm glad I'm not the only one that feels like this . I think you guys are right though,animism is different then what this is but it's the only term I could find for it lol.


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## Braxietel

I always feel like this about inanimate objects, as if they had feelings and whatnot. Sometimes I'll hold back insult towards the computer because of this, and sometimes I won't for the same reason. Also I often feel as if objects have feelings and I feel sorry for them if they're like found and abandoned and whatnot.


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## odd_one_out

Objects feel alive to me. Even smashed bits of plastic, rubbish, lint, and crumpled paper are hard for me to part with. I cannot break anything and all my belongings are immaculate.

I don't like to demolish food, but then also don't like to let its existence go to waste.


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## tutliputli

Yeah, especially teddies. As a child, I'd feel really guilty if my teddy bear fell out of my bed while I was asleep and I'd wake up and be squishing him or he'd be face down on the floor. I'd have to say sorry and cuddle him. I used to have a habit of getting up in the night, half asleep, wandering around the house and dragging my bear with me. I'd sometimes leave him in a random room and feel really sad waking up without him and guilty that I'd left him somewhere. And 'The Velveteen Rabbit' made me cry A LOT, even though I only read it for the first time aged 21. :b


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## UltraShy

No, I'd only care if the item being destroyed was in good condition and had real value. Tearing apart a worthless worn out toy is fine by me.


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## Dreamcatcher

Yes, for stuffed animals I do, I've been like that ever since I was little. My brother is the same way, interestingly enough. In fact.....he had this stuffed animal an ex-girlfriend gave him. Well, they've long since been broken up and he is now married. He'd been keeping it in his truck, wanting to get rid of it, and I found out his wife was upset with him for still keeping it and I had to explain to her, it wasn't because of the person who gave it to him but rather the feelings for the stuffed animal itself. When I explained this to her in front of him, he was surprised that I understood. He just couldn't bear to see it trashed so I took it and told them I'd give it to Goodwill and I assured him that someone would buy it for their boyfriend/girlfriend and it'd get a good home. My brother seemed satisfied with that. :lol I think one thing that made it worse was that the damn thing talked (it was from Hallmark & made seductive-like comments) so that made it more..."real". I guess. :lol

Anyway, I understand what you're saying, I can't stand to see a stuffed animal being destroyed or burned or whatever. 

Tutliputli, I LOVE the Velveteen Rabbit, it's one of my favorite children's books. It's so sad but it has a happy ending at least!


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## Blackvixzin

Yeah I definatly get that.


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## tutliputli

Dreamcatcher said:


> Tutliputli, I LOVE the Velveteen Rabbit, it's one of my favorite children's books. It's so sad but it has a happy ending at least!


I know, it's such a lovely story. And the ending is amazingly happy! I'm slightly obsessed with anything to do with rabbits.


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## jmoop

I feel more sorry for old things that are replaceable by shiny new things, but then I think the new thing wants to be used and loved too 

The smiley I just used makes me sad... it's eternally unhappy and nothing you can do can make it smile...


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## origami potato

Yesh.

I feel bad about leaving toys in their original packaging. "It can't live like that!"


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## march_hare

tutliputli said:


> And 'The Velveteen Rabbit' made me cry A LOT, even though I only read it for the first time aged 21. :b


that book made me cry a lot too ;_;

The main sadness I felt for inanimate objects was christmas trees. I used to love helping my mum choose a christmas tree when I was a child, but I'd feel an acute sadness for the small trees that I knew no-one was going to buy. The kind of tree that had all bedraggled branches and had fallen over in the mud; the ugly ones. Very sad.


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## nothing to fear

Knife said:


> that book made me cry a lot too ;_;
> 
> The main sadness I felt for inanimate objects was christmas trees. I used to love helping my mum choose a christmas tree when I was a child, but I'd feel an acute sadness for the small trees that I knew no-one was going to buy. The kind of tree that had all bedraggled branches and had fallen over in the mud; the ugly ones. Very sad.


 i always felt that too. when i live on my own and buy my first xmas tree i hope to get one of those adorably pathetic charlie brown christmas trees


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## _AJ_

I feel bad when my car is all dirty, cause she likes to look pretty 
and when shes low on gas, it feels like shes hungry

and when electronics work good, i praise them for a job well done, since most people just get angry at their electronics when they screw up


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## Dane

I used to feel bad for inanimate objects a lot when I was a kid, and sometimes still do now.


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## pita

Seems like a lot of us feel this way, which surprises me. I thought bf and I were the only weirdos.

I would like to find out how common this is in SA sufferers vs non-sufferers.


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## IllusionOfHappiness

Interesting. I suppose I've felt this to some extent. Mostly due to the fact that I mainly just think it's a "bad thing" when inanimate objects are destroyed. But I got really attached to this stuffed dog I slept with as a child. Yeah, you all had teddy bears while I was obsessed with dogs xD. I don't even know where Lightning is right now. Probably in my parents' attic. I feel kinda bad, but it's not like I lay awake at night thinking about it.


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## Sunshine009

You can give stuffed animals to goodwill or an orphanage.


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## Amelia

Sometimes you see old family photographs or wedding rings in antique shops, and I feel sorry that something so personal should be given away.



shyshisho said:


> Once my dad took us shopping for an electric organ and I recommended the smallest, least functional one because I felt sorry for it.


That's really cute.


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## lyricalillusions

I'm an only child & still have a lot of my old dolls & toys left over from childhood. If anything were to happen to any of my dolls, or stuffed animals (about 5 in particular), I would feel horrible & would have to go through a bit of a grieving process lol. Maybe even a long one. I was very attached to them as a kid, & I guess I always will be.


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## creep

How about a vague sense of paranoia towards inanimate objects? When I was a kid I always tended wonder what kind of things my toys got up to when I wasn't looking at them. I'd leave the room and come back later and find myself trying to remember whether or not a toy was in the same position as I'd left it before. If I was changing clothes or doing anything I otherwise might not want to be seen doing I'd turn them to face the opposite direction or cover them up with something. I think I even might have gone through a phase where I'd place something heavy on the lid of the box I kept them in to make it harder for them to get out at night, y'know just to be safe. This was mostly before Toy Story came out but I presume these kinds of thoughts are pretty common.

I still kind of do this. I'll never say anything bad about my car, while I'm in my car for example, for fear of hurting its feelings.


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## estse

They're all made to be used by people


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## BlueBamboo

I am oddly guilty of this, though it's mostly _not_ aimed toward stuffed animals or things that look like animals or people. It's almost always things that have been designed by people, that I feel have some flaw that will make them unwanted. For instance, I'll go clothes shopping, and pass by a really ugly shirt that will make me think, "Poor shirt, it's so ugly, it can't help being ugly, someone made it that way, and now no one will ever want it and it will just be thrown away." But I never feel at all inclined to buy the shirt out of pity. I can't tell if I attribute the shirt with being unwanted because I subconsciously feel unwanted and identify with it, or if bad design just pisses me off.  I am surprised I did not feel a whole lot more remorse when trading in my car for a new one, though.

Pretty recently I've also found myself analyzing marketing for products and wondering how the products feel about that marketing. Like, what does the cereal I just bought think about the cartoon characters on its box? Is the microwave meal upset that, when it's cooked, it won't look anything like the meal pictured on the box? Does the store-brand item realize the amount of effort that went into making its packaging look professional and suspiciously similar to its name-brand equivalent? Yes, I do realize these are ridiculous things to ponder.



Knife said:


> The main sadness I felt for inanimate objects was christmas trees. I used to love helping my mum choose a christmas tree when I was a child, but I'd feel an acute sadness for the small trees that I knew no-one was going to buy. The kind of tree that had all bedraggled branches and had fallen over in the mud; the ugly ones. Very sad.


I have a special issue with Christmas trees. It's not he ones that don't get chosen, it's the ones that do get taken home, and decorated, and dumped on the curb a few weeks later. Driving around the beginning of January with all those discarded Christmas trees lying on the curbs? Absolutely depressing. You killed it just to throw it out! Didn't even do anything useful with it, like make paper. Poor tree.  At one point in my life I was convinced that if aliens ever discovered us and studied our society, they'd think the practice of decorating Christmas trees was bizarre and barbaric.


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## ilikebooks

Yes! I'm not sure why...I don't think they have their own "spirit" or what have you. But I still sleep with the same stuffed dog I've been sleeping with since I was about 4, and today I even bought him a bunny for company while I'm at work and school ops

It's not just stuffed animals, though. I felt bad for a sweater that I found in the back room at work that went unclaimed for about 4 months because its owner clearly forgot about it. I even had dreams about taking it home, handwashing it, and giving it back to its owner who'd be sobbing with happiness.

I blame _The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane_, personally


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## Neptunus

I often feel bad for my car -- if only it's owner had better depth perception and concentration. It's glory days of being shiny and new were brief. Poor thing! :no


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## onefinalkiss

I can't really say if I feel towards inanimate objects, it never stuck to me as a child. But when my cat died recently this year, I wanted him cremated and his ashes put into an urn (to which my father denied, making the decision as always, even though I had my own money to pay for a full cremation). I was very emotionally upset, but I tried to bite down on my feelings and push it aside. I've kept my cat's collar as a memory, and on his ID tag there is even some blood stains I haven't washed. Whenever I look at this collar, I always feel quietly overwhelmed and very saddened. I guess it means more if I can associate an item to someone/something that was once living.


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## Jnmcda0

I definitely felt like this as a kid. I remember crying one time (I was probably 5 or 6) because I broke a ruler (which maybe cost a dollar). I had a ton of stuffed animals and although I had favorites, I'd still play with the others from time to time so they wouldn't feel bad.

The movie Toy Story really hits on this.



Knife said:


> I'd feel an acute sadness for the small trees that I knew no-one was going to buy. The kind of tree that had all bedraggled branches and had fallen over in the mud; the ugly ones. Very sad.


Don't fret. I'm sure there are some Charlie Browns out there that will buy those trees because they feel sorry for them.


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## andy0128

Yes. I do have certain possessions that i treasure, some are very childish and would feel sad if they were lost or damaged.


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## Stevep27

Yes and I blame watching Brave Little Toaster for it 



pita said:


> YES, totally. I always have. Brave Little Toaster is probably the saddest movie I've ever seen. And I cried more during Wall-E than I would have if Wall-E had been a human. I have a stuffed animal that I've had for years, and it makes me so sad to see him all worn out.
> 
> It's one of the weird things my bf and I have in common. He worries about inanimate objects being lonely or feeling unloved. There was a cake in his fridge that nobody was eating, so he ate it all so that the cake would know it was tasty.


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## zomgz

Jnmcda0 said:


> The movie Toy Story really hits on this.


I Love Toy Story .


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## BrokenDreams

When I replace a car, a couch or a television that had served me well for many years I feel bad for it, especially if I know it'll probably be junked. It only lasts until I start using the new item.

It's weird, but I feel bad for plants too when I have to pull them out or even trim them. I feel like I'm hurting it and it just can't tell me. It doesn't stop me from doing it though.

:eyes


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## Dub16

BrokenDreams said:


> When I replace a car, a couch or a television that had served me well for many years I feel bad for it, especially if I know it'll probably be junked. It only lasts until I start using the new item.
> 
> :eyes


Its probably a sign of a nice person really. Sentimental people usually have a good heart.

I feel sorry for my laptop, because I'm going to smash it to bits for keeping me up so late when I've got a 6.30am start ahead of me!!


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## zomgz

I didn't realize so many people felt this way. People feeling bad for inanimate objects actually gives me some hope in society .


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## millenniumman75

Today's inanimate object....

the HOCKEY PUCK from the USA-Canada game. It took a lot of abuse out there.


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## dax

I remember I was like that when I was a kid and even maybe through jr. high but I grew out of it by HS. I don't feel bad for inanimate objects anymore but sometimes I do feel bad throwing out certain things that were given to me as gifts once they are no longer functional- I feel like because they're a gift I'm rejecting the gift or the person if I throw them out.


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## meowgirl

tutliputli said:


> Yeah, especially teddies. As a child, I'd feel really guilty if my teddy bear fell out of my bed while I was asleep and I'd wake up and be squishing him or he'd be face down on the floor. I'd have to say sorry and cuddle him. I used to have a habit of getting up in the night, half asleep, wandering around the house and dragging my bear with me. I'd sometimes leave him in a random room and feel really sad waking up without him and guilty that I'd left him somewhere. And 'The Velveteen Rabbit' made me cry A LOT, even though I only read it for the first time aged 21. :b


That story made me cry too ;__;

Same way towards teddies... Once I tried to put one in my suitcase and I had to take him out and put it in my purse... I was worried he couldn't "breathe"


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## Georgina 22

Yeah I feel bad for objects that have no feelings. Like stuffed toys. I have some and I have to sit them up right. I feel bad with them lying on their sides or on their heads 
I also feel bad about putting heavy books on bookshelves because i feel bad about the bookshelf holding the weight
I also feel that way about a picture hanging on the wall. I feel bad about putting a picture up because I feel sorry for the nail/hook that has to hold it up LOL

I am weird


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## wrongnumber

I wonder if most young kids feel like this? I remember when I was 4 or 5 I went to a birthday party. The birthday girl was given a teddy and she decided to leave it on her bedside table while she opened her next present. I noticed the table was a cold hard surface so I immediately grabbed the teddy and said 'don't put it there it'll get cold'. The rest of the kids looked at me like I was a lunatic. It's not like I really thought it was alive, but no one seemed to have any empathy for it.


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## Bad Barometer

I'm in the process of cleaning out my room since my brother got his own room now, and I've been left with the remains.

My brother has claimed to renounce all of his stuff (cause he's lazy and doesn't want to clean), so I have to sort what gets tossed and what stays or gets sold/donated.

It's really hard, cause I'm attached to a lot of things, but the most upsetting is my chest of Beanie Babies. Seems something got into them and layed eggs, and I found them with some dead worms, tiny things. So I have to toss them, but I can't be there when it happens.


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## smalltowngirl

I used to feel this way when I was younger, and I still do occasionally. I mainly notice it when I'm rearranging my room, and I move figurines to other areas. If I move something to a new shelf, I'll suddenly think something like, "Now she'll get to see a whole new perspective of the room!" Then I try to remind myself that "she" is not real and therefore cannot see no matter where she's standing. 

I find sometimes adults encourage children to imagine that their toys have feelings. Maybe that's where we all get it from - parental reinforcement from a young age. In fact I even do this with my niece's food sometimes if I'm trying to persuade her to eat more. "Aw, the carrot's lonely. He wants to go to the party in your tummy with the rest of his friends." :lol


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## eagleheart

Yeah I guess I sometimes do kind of. I was totally like that when I was little. I felt bad for napkins and freaking everything. haha.

My mum told me about a kid at school who was crying and going on about "little Timmy" and little Timmy ended up to be a little scrap of paper in the trash can hehee


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## PickleNose

Yep. One of the few surviving items from my early childhood is a stuffed dog that I always felt sorry for. His name is Digger, I think. I have him in my closet right now and will never part with him willingly.

I also have a number of things that I just can't get rid of because I'd be sorry to see them go either to the trash or to someone who didn't care about them.


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## ojp

*This is very late but hope it helps!*

This is a symptom of obsessive compulsive disorder.

"individuals with OCD may experience...or have the feeling that inanimate objects are ensouled."-- here is the link explaining more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsessive–compulsive_disorder

I had a similar situation as you and I was surprised when my Doctor said this was the cause.


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## ApathyDivine

Yes, I do sometimes. I felt very bad for my old car the day I got my new car, I can just imagine it being sad that I replaced it like that


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## JamesM2

If I'm at the supermarket and pick up an item and then put it back and choose another item, I sometimes feel bad for the item I've just put back 

Also, I remember back in school we were given an assignment once where we had to take care of an egg shell as if it was a pet or a baby. When we were done with the experiment I smashed it and threw it away. That night I was really upset about what I had done - I think I may have even cried.


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## frank81

I've always wanted a stuffed animal but I never had one. I wanna get one but I'm feeling a bit embarrassed that I might have to say I'm buying it as a birthday present.


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## Lish3rs

I will not get rid of my stuffed animals.


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## James_Russell




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## Trisha Gaurav

How can you feel pain if you're not alive? You could feel sorry for them because they're not aware that they're suffering.


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## keyboardsmahshfwa

Trisha Gaurav said:


> How can you feel pain if you're not alive? You could feel sorry for them because they're not aware that they're suffering.


Greatest first post ever


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## Memories of Silence

I feel bad when I see a stuffed toy on its head or looking uncomfortable, so I fix it.

If I accidentally shut a door too hard, I feel bad for the door and have to pat it so it feels better.

When I'm in a shop and see something out of place, I usually put it where it should be, and then I feel bad in case it made friends with the items where it had been before I moved it, so then I feel like I should put it back, but I don't want to separate it from its family again.

When we had trees cut down because they were dead, I hugged them because I felt bad that we were getting rid of them.

One day, my sister was really annoying me, so I got some eggs out of the fridge so I could throw them at her. I didn't do it, because I felt bad for the eggs.

I used to feel bad for getting my hair cut, because the hair I would have cut off would think I don't like it anymore.

I feel sad when I see stuffed toys in second hand shops or dumped somewhere. I saw a bear a few days ago under a tree, and I wanted it to be reunited with its owner who probably missed it.

I feel bad when we get rid of the Christmas tree.


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## Aeiou

objects have feelings, too.


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