pisces316,
No you are not nuts.

In the begining I felt that way too. Yes I do experience telepathy to a degree. Later these things would be confirmed through a conversation overheard, etc. Friends of mine thought that I was being hard on myself when I said so and so didn't like me, I would not only get the feelings, I would hear the words screaming out at times. It was so hard not to feel hurt inside. Later I would hear what I heard in my mind confirmed Being a skeptic, it was the details that kinda were hard to explain. Sorry it is hard to explain. Empathy so strong that I do pick up thoughts. But not as you think, I do not hear all conversations of the mind, perhaps with more training I could, but honestly with that part I would rather put on mute, and not hear them. I have learned to turn down the volume, and shut off the recieving. Maybe when I feel strong enough I can grow in this area more. But honestly it hurt alot. To hear all the thoughts. Not all the time directed at me, many times it is at others. I am a peaceful person by nature.
Smoking weed or using other drugs has been known to add to the experience. Not that I am for drugs. I myself am clean after many years. After some time I figured out a way to achieve this without the aid of drugs, where as some people are still using for this reason. To become aware...hmmm. I ramble too!!

In time you will be able to do more than you think. The drugs only help us to relax, to get our mind to a certain state. I still cannot meditate, lol I get SOOOO bored!!! So I had to find methods that worked for me.
Give it time and you'll get there too. ;) Curious to know if you had this in your chart too. My Astro chart has shown that I do carry this ability. Although I don't know how it all works exactly. (Astrology) I'm still learning.
Safe Journey