Emotions are natural to me so it's pretty hard to explain how I feel emotions to an alexithimic person (word spelt wrong I know, I don't know how to pronounce it).
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when you feel an emotion do you notice it immediately or after some time?
Immediately for me, or as soon as I realise the seriousness of the situation.
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what's the thought process that leads you to figure out what emotion you feel?Do you ask youself any questions? If so, which ones?
I'm not sure there is a thought process. I just...
feel. A bit like when you hurt yourself really bad, you immediately feel the pain without stopping to think first (generally speaking, that is).
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what's the thought process that leads you to figure out why you feel that way? Do you ask youself any questions? If so, which ones?
Depending on why the friend is angry at me, I feel guilt ("have I done/said something wrong?"), shame ("oh no, my friend is mad at me"), anxiety ("oh, God, what do I do? How do I resolve this?"), anger ("how dare they get mad at me/speak to me like that!"), sadness ("I can't believe they're mad at me" *cries*). For me the umbrella term for these emotions is "upset that my friend is angry with me". I'll feel at least one of these emotions. But, like I said before, it can depend on the scenario/reason behind why the friend is angry at me. There is no black and white when it comes to emotions, usually how you feel is based on context of the situation.
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Is the reason why you feel a certain way unconscious while you're having an emotion? Or is it conscious but in the midst of the emotional reaction and the chaos that it provokes inside you, you find it hard to find the words to describe it?
It's usually unconscious, like I'll feel a certain way without my brain cognitively thinking about it. But I think this is just coming from an overly sensitive person, as some people (especially men) might not feel bothered at all by a friend being angry at them and might just shrug it off and think "it's their problem, they'll get over it, if they don't then they weren't a friend to begin with." I find this logic very difficult to admit, because I am more about emotions than logic.
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when you finally figure out how you feel, do you respond to the other person?
The other person can usually tell how I'm feeling by my body language, which I can't always hide. Sometimes I cry, for 2 reasons; A, because I'm really upset, and B, because I want them to know how upset I really am.
Hope this helps.
_________________
Female
Aged 30
On antidepressants
Diagnosed with AS, ADHD and anxiety disorder
Empathy score: 61 out of a possible 80. (High)
19 Nov 2020, 3:50 am
