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OpalWP
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26 Jun 2017, 11:18 pm

Does anyone have limited feelings in life? Like you don't have the feelings and internal response that you 'should' have. And little empathy?


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C2V
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27 Jun 2017, 3:43 am

This may be a form of alexithymia.


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OpalWP
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27 Jun 2017, 3:46 am

C2V wrote:
This may be a form of alexithymia.

Yea I've heard of that but isn't that more like when people can't identify their feelings in their body as to what they mean, etc, rather than lacking feelings..
But yes perhaps it could be a part of alexithymia.


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C2V
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27 Jun 2017, 5:02 am

^ There are lots of different presentations within alexithymia, just like there is in autism. While one person may be as you note, having difficulty identifying physical sensations as related to emotions, there are others who just lack some emotional ranges completely. I have a mix of these sorts of things. I'll have difficulty understanding what it is I'm feeling at times, but other aspects of emotionalism are just completely absent - like attachment. I don't experience this. As far as I can understand, the extremes are also missing, like love or hate.
Others, interestingly, will have very overt emotions, with no idea why or what is going on. It's a mixed bag.


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OpalWP
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27 Jun 2017, 5:08 am

C2V wrote:
^ There are lots of different presentations within alexithymia, just like there is in autism. While one person may be as you note, having difficulty identifying physical sensations as related to emotions, there are others who just lack some emotional ranges completely. I have a mix of these sorts of things. I'll have difficulty understanding what it is I'm feeling at times, but other aspects of emotionalism are just completely absent - like attachment. I don't experience this. As far as I can understand, the extremes are also missing, like love or hate.
Others, interestingly, will have very overt emotions, with no idea why or what is going on. It's a mixed bag.

So for example of someone asked you if you liked something you wouldn't really know how to answer?
Would a therapist know about this sort of thing or would it need to be identified by a psychologist?


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27 Jun 2017, 8:10 am

Superficial associations like if I did or did not like a food, song, or movie for example, is fairly easy to access. It's a mild response that I can equate to an approximation of what I can comprehend. But more complex emotional constructs - like if someone was to ask me "who do you hate?" Or "do you love your mother?" Then no, I would not have any response because I can't understand these emotional concepts. Alexithymia is a big and strange and complex topic.
As to therapists, it's very difficult in my experience to find anyone who even knows what alexithymia is. It's uncommon. Most therapists out there are just dealing with depression, anxiety, addictions, stress, etc. Therapists familiar with autism are more likely to be aware of this as it's higher in the autistic population than the neurotypical, but in my experience, even they deal with it badly. You cannot treat someone with high alexithymic traits as you would neurotypical standard. Someone well versed in the differences of autism is probably your best bet, but the more educated and experienced the person is, the more likely they'd have studied or encountered this.
A therapist who is trained to with with psychopaths can also have a bit better grasp of alexithymia.


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AceofPens
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27 Jun 2017, 10:18 am

C2V wrote:
Superficial associations like if I did or did not like a food, song, or movie for example, is fairly easy to access. It's a mild response that I can equate to an approximation of what I can comprehend. But more complex emotional constructs - like if someone was to ask me "who do you hate?" Or "do you love your mother?" Then no, I would not have any response because I can't understand these emotional concepts. Alexithymia is a big and strange and complex topic.


That "Do you love your mother?" part really snagged my attention. I don't understand what love is at all. I settled on the definition "absolute selflessness directed towards a specific person or thing" after I read 1984, but then the book itself proposes that such a definition is impossible for humans to pursue, so maybe I have it wrong. Is everyone else actually born with an understanding of what love is and the natural ability to exercise it? I thought it was something that everyone had to figure out. It never occurred to me that I was an exception, not the rule. Is it really just me that has to figure it - and other important emotions - out?


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