Autism and emotional depth?

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i think our cultures are very similar when it comes to this... i am amazed at what you do for a living by the way... so far from the maths stereotype AS person we all read too much about...

I don't seem to have multiple emotions at once, just flick between a few really quick: such as "I want to kill that guy, but wouldn't I feel guilty, then only duff him up a bit, but He's bigger than me" and have a minnie argument in my head. But aparantly I lack certain emotions to some degree... I have a freind who is AS aswell, and is all very "oh you should cry in sad movies" and when we went to see marly and me, the dog died and I didn't give two hoots, yet he was like "thats well sad" it was a simaller story with our hamster, my sister was distract and I was more "oh" has it gone in to rigormortis, yes it has lets dispose of it

Wow, I was just about to start my own thread dealing with this subject, but thank goodness I had the sense to read down the page and check.

Anyways, I do have a lot to say about this. Yes, indeed I do feel like I'm VERY empathetic, to the point that I might be a true 'empath'; that means a person that is so sympathetic to a persons feelings, even a *fictional character*, that they actually 'feel' those exact emotions in themselves, as though they ARE that person.

A great example of this was when I watched Kill Bill Volume 1 for the first time in the theatre. The scene in question was when Beatrix (her name was not revealed until volume 2) woke up from her 4-year coma, and discovered she wasn't pregnant anymore.

The scream she let out...PIERCED my heart like you wouldn't believe! And when she started sobbing...goddamn...I literally felt her sorrow in my own soul. Yes, yes, ladies of the forum, I know that as a man, I cannot possibly know what it feels like to be pregnant, and I cannot possibly understand how it feels to lose a baby, either by miscarriage or stillborn...but even so...

For that moment, and every moment I re-watch that scene...her grief is my grief.

I might be back with another example later. Just adding my thoughts to this wonderful thread. ^_^

Usagi1992

Hey wow, thanks for the compliment!

I guess maybe I should specify, also, that although I live in Germany, I´m not from here; I´m actually American. (But for some reason, I´ve always felt more comfortable in Europe. It seems to suit me better). In any case, I think becoming more stoical with my emotions was a choice I made at some point, due to some experiences I had...though I´m not completely sure.

i try its still like my life is a living hell

I've hardly met anyone (AS or otherwise) who didn't have any emotions-a complete lack of emotion would mean a comatose state, followed by death. It's more a matter of being unable to 'tune' or 'amplify' your emotions to those of other people. A side effect of the empathy deficit.

It's most obvious with crowd behavior, where NTs ratchet their emotions up (speeches, weddings, parties) or down (riots, protests, funerals) simply by being around other people with similar emotions. And alcohol. Same principle with small groups and individuals, just less intense. Never got the hang of it myself, but I've learned to play along.