Does someone experience blunted or flat affect

Post Reply New Topic

I've never been diagnosed with anything but I remember the term "flat affect" being in reports about me a lot.

I went to 6-7 psychologists until now because of bullying in school and they all said i have no problem - only one was thinking i could be highly sensitive. But i think i could have some disorder since i can't fit in society, can't find a job and maintain relationships, etc. So, to find out, i should go to an autism specialist, not to a psychiatrist? My mother wanted to send me to a psychiatrist but i refused because i'm afraid he could misunderstand my situation and give me a wrong diagnosis. Thanks for the answer.

Last edited by AnotherKind on 13 May 2012, 11:27 am, edited 1 time in total.

I'm just poking fun at the way you phrased it. Asperger is the name of the pediatrician who described it, the disorder is Aspergers Syndrome.

I didn't know. I saw it misspelled Asperger too. But nobody was pointing at it tho.

What I meant by fairly constant is throughout life; not on a day to day basis, and just Aspergers on its own would be fairly constant, while comorbids such as depression could cause a more drastic change. Sorry for not being clear. So are you saying that there hasn't been any big changes, you've been more or less like this your whole life, and it just at times that you are energetic or not? If so then that sounds perfectly inline for just being Aspergers.

"Flat affect" was on my diagnostic report. It's not that I don't have feelings, it's just that they don't get expressed through my face/body. I had a friend once who constantly told me she couldn't tell how I felt about things because my face was always the same. She would ask me "Are you ok?" all the time. Also, several friends have told me they think I'm a negative person. I'm not, I'm actually quite a positive person, it's just that I seem flat a lot so people think I'm upset.

A joke in my family is that if we're excited about something, we say "I'm excited." in a really flat voice. This is because years ago my family was in the living room talking about something and I was excited, and said, "I'm excited" but it came out in a really flat voice. My family thought that was hilarious and it's become a family joke.

I were like this ever since i can recall. But now it has become a real problem because people have grown up and made their families & friends but i'm still unchanged. And they have the tendency to point at you like you're an ill person and you should be changed - but i can't, even if i try. It feels unnatural.

Yes, I have a very difficult time understanding why people get so bent out of shape about death. I guess it is because they can't be with that person anymore, but what good is mourning when it doesn't get that person back?? I don't know...I just don't understand it.

yes it can. ASDs make people less socially engaged. this alone can cause blunted affect. Also, a lifetime of not knowing proper social reactions , and a lifetime of having to inhibit your ASD natural emotional reactions (stimming,etc.) can create a social anxiety that makes you hide your emotions. For example, you may simply not know what to say. I get that a lot, ill be having an emotional reaction in my head, but people are so judgmental that im scared to react at all to anything.

I'm not sure what you are getting at, but pretending to have feelings isn't something I do. I have feelings, I just have a hard time knowing if its sadness/happiness if I get chocked up, or if its excitement/anger when my blood gets pumping. I have a hard time connecting to my feelings(typical Aspergers), but I know they are there. I never pretend to have feelings.

You can't control what other people think or feel, atleast not without manipulating them. So pondering what others think is a futile exercise, people tell me, but I still do it, I cant help it. Having Aspergers gives me a disadvantage in that area (google "Theory of mind" and "Aspergers"), but I still try.

Insane.. didn't Einstein define insanity as "doing the same thing repeatadly and expecting a different result"? Just avoid that, and you are safe.

Because of my anxiety for not being judged, i can't even concentrate on what feelings should i have. Of course that i have lots of feelings, since childhood i were good at reading others and understanding the human psychic but i'm so poor in a face-to-face situation.... maybe i'm just a difficult person


Exactly.

I have a flat affect, most of the time people don't know what I'm thinking about something, or I don't react the way other people do. It's actually ended relationships in the past in my case.
Most people seem to need reactions from others to gauge emotion, but with this kind of thing, it's impossible for others to tell if I'm happy, sad, etc.

People often draw this very same distinction between AS and autism (people with AS want to be part of the social world but can't, people with autism don't care about it). I am not sure that it is truly a valid distinction. That is, I know it's a part of SPD, but I don't think someone diagnosed with AS must want to be social. It may be common, but I don't think it is definitive.

People mourn because they can't get that person back. It's sadness because the person is irrevocably gone.

Einstein was wrong. That's perseveration.

No, perseveration does not require expecting a different result.