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Amity
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14 Apr 2015, 1:59 pm

For the next week I'm trying to identify my emotions on a frequent basis, the therapist I'm visiting assures me that I have them even if I don't feel them. So today I've felt anxious and content and numb. That's it. I'm curious if other people have a narrow range of emotions? Also, how do you identify a feeling that you don't know your having?



kraftiekortie
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14 Apr 2015, 2:12 pm

LOL...I wish I had a narrow range of emotions.

Today alone, I've ranged from complacent, to anxious, to more anxious, and back to sort of numb. The only "happiness" I experienced today was when the train was on time for me.



FlyingSpaceKittie
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14 Apr 2015, 2:26 pm

kraftiekortie wrote:
LOL...I wish I had a narrow range of emotions.

Today alone, I've ranged from complacent, to anxious, to more anxious, and back to sort of numb. The only "happiness" I experienced today was when the train was on time for me.

Me too, lol! Mine are so mixed sometimes I don't realize what I'm really feeling at the moment until it comes out at a bad time.



will@rd
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14 Apr 2015, 2:29 pm

Content and Numb (with some occasional Excitement) are the upper register of my emotions. Below those are: Anxiety, Extreme Anxiety, Panic, Frustration, Anger, Rage, Depression, Despondence, Melancholy and Despair.


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Amity
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14 Apr 2015, 4:23 pm

Hmm, does anyone have difficulty identifying their emotions?

The suggestion is that I have them, but at present can't feel them, so I have to tune into how I'm feeling on a regular basis.
This is confusing me because I don't know how to tune into something that I don't consciously feel.



Last edited by Amity on 14 Apr 2015, 4:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Amity
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14 Apr 2015, 4:28 pm

FlyingSpaceKittie wrote:
kraftiekortie wrote:
LOL...I wish I had a narrow range of emotions.

Today alone, I've ranged from complacent, to anxious, to more anxious, and back to sort of numb. The only "happiness" I experienced today was when the train was on time for me.

Me too, lol! Mine are so mixed sometimes I don't realize what I'm really feeling at the moment until it comes out at a bad time.

will@rd wrote:
Content and Numb (with some occasional Excitement) are the upper register of my emotions. Below those are: Anxiety, Extreme Anxiety, Panic, Frustration, Anger, Rage, Depression, Despondence, Melancholy and Despair.


I mostly feel anxious now, some contentment and lots of numb, which is much better than when I was just sad and numb.



thewheel
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14 Apr 2015, 5:06 pm

I'm very Alexithymic. When people ask me how I'm feeling I just give them a stock "alright" answer and hope they go away...


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Amity
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14 Apr 2015, 5:52 pm

thewheel wrote:
I'm very Alexithymic. When people ask me how I'm feeling I just give them a stock "alright" answer and hope they go away...

Identifying my emotions is like homework for the therapy sessions I'm attending. The therapist believes that addressing the Alexithymia will help the depressive symptoms I experience; I cant help but think that this is an exercise at a preschool level, but I'm not able to do it.



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14 Apr 2015, 6:17 pm

I used to have the same relationship with my emotions as I had with my ears. They were just there, sometimes hot sometimes cold. Most of my childhood the only emotions I really understood were normal, angry and happy.
Its only these last couple of years I'v started to "open up the hood" and try to understand my emotions better. I very probably also have a degree of alexithymia so I know how difficult that is. Talking about it and trying to verbalise it helped me, I managed with help from a close friend.
I would say that very much changed my life. It helps to understand yourself and others a whole lot more. As for the depression it was a double-edged sword. I got to understand and feel good, happy and fun a whole lot better, but I also understood sadness a whole lot more.
For some complex emotions im still not sure if I don't have them, or if I just don't understand them.
It is difficult, but it is also worth doing. It will help all you personal relationships by improving your communication.
Understanding some strong emotions for me involves walking in circles with a lot of arm flapping andd thigh slapping.
What was probably the single most important thing I learned was that I stim differently according to what kind of emotions im feeling. Essentially I can identify if im feeling something strongly and what a lot quicker by stimming. How my arms flap will tell me if im distressed, happy or overwhelmed far better than I could by thinking about my state of mind. For people who don't understand alexithymia that probably sounds crazy.
It's worth it in the end, man. so just keep it up!



Amity
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14 Apr 2015, 6:41 pm

Shoggothgoat wrote:
I used to have the same relationship with my emotions as I had with my ears. They were just there, sometimes hot sometimes cold. Most of my childhood the only emotions I really understood were normal, angry and happy.
Its only these last couple of years I'v started to "open up the hood" and try to understand my emotions better. I very probably also have a degree of alexithymia so I know how difficult that is. Talking about it and trying to verbalise it helped me, I managed with help from a close friend.
I would say that very much changed my life. It helps to understand yourself and others a whole lot more. As for the depression it was a double-edged sword. I got to understand and feel good, happy and fun a whole lot better, but I also understood sadness a whole lot more.
For some complex emotions im still not sure if I don't have them, or if I just don't understand them.
It is difficult, but it is also worth doing. It will help all you personal relationships by improving your communication.
Understanding some strong emotions for me involves walking in circles with a lot of arm flapping andd thigh slapping.
What was probably the single most important thing I learned was that I stim differently according to what kind of emotions im feeling. Essentially I can identify if im feeling something strongly and what a lot quicker by stimming. How my arms flap will tell me if im distressed, happy or overwhelmed far better than I could by thinking about my state of mind. For people who don't understand alexithymia that probably sounds crazy.
It's worth it in the end, man. so just keep it up!


She has talked about where I feel emotions in my body... I didn't know I was supposed to! But what you have said makes me think I should be more aware of my actual body movements as a part of this learning curve. Thanks.
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I found an article about a study 'Mapping How Emotions Manifest in the Body' http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archi ... dy/282713/
Does it seem credible?



Shoggothgoat
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14 Apr 2015, 6:54 pm

Amity wrote:

I found an article about a study 'Mapping How Emotions Manifest in the Body' http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archi ... dy/282713/
Does it seem credible?


Seems credible enough. I personally don't have an understanding about different feelings in different bodyparts, but that may very well work for someone else. Negative stress makes my stomach hurt, but thats pretty much it.



kraftiekortie
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14 Apr 2015, 7:01 pm

If I feel especially anxious, I tend to get gastrointestinal symptoms.



Amity
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14 Apr 2015, 7:27 pm

The negative emotions tend to impact on my digestive system also.
I'm too familiar with anxiety, but not enough with the physical feeling of more positive emotions.



kraftiekortie
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14 Apr 2015, 7:32 pm

When I feel anxious, I feel DREAD sometimes. I just have such a fear sometimes!

This happens, especially, in public speaking. When I speak, I just walk around and stutter. My head darts hither and thither. I try to have the audience ask me questions pretty quickly after I give a presentation. I do better answering questions than giving a speech.

I was selected to give a speech on Honors Day in my college/university. I was presenting a paper on the history of linguistics. I fumbled it. I tried to NOT prepare for it. But I should have prepared for it!



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14 Apr 2015, 7:49 pm

Amity wrote:
She has talked about where I feel emotions in my body... I didn't know I was supposed to!

I've read the opposite, that emotions are not the same as bodily sensations, but I never quite accepted it. Strictly speaking they may not be, but they're often associated with them strongly, and they're at least a clue. First time I realised I was getting stressed out was when a project was unexpectedly going wrong, and I noticed I was feeling hot.

I still have some trouble identifying my emotions, and have spent most of my life making a lot of my decisions without such information, which is probably not the best way to pursue happiness. I always assumed that the way I was feeling had little bearing on what to do, unless it was a really intense feeling that even I could spot.



Deb1970
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14 Apr 2015, 10:16 pm

I have problems with mixed emotions. I just can not figure out what is going on with me when this happens. I'm mad/happy/sad all at the same time. These are the main emotions I can identify with. I've been told by many of bosses that I'm either mad or happy. There's not much in between for me. I'm not sure if I lack certain emotions because you have to feel them in order to identify them. It's like explaining how it feels to fly like a bird when your not a bird.


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