Published on 12, July, 2020
Example 1: At my last psych appointment the pdoc said I looked happy. I didn't think I was.
Example 2: Was recently seen at main hospital emergency department because of chest pains. Tests were ok, but BP was higher than normal . Had to go for follow up the next day . Doctor said it had been raised because I was anxious. Apparently my pulse rate was fast. I hadn't noticed I was anxious.
I don't think it happens all the time ie I sometimes know when I'm anxious etc .
I used to think so but over the last year or two I've learned that I was wrong, so no.
I know that one reason that I became overstressed is down to the fact that I don't notice viscerally - I need to observe my behaviour. Likewise if I'm jumping round the lounge playing with our dogs, I often think "I must be happy".
"Alexithymia" seems to describe this accurately for me.
Looking at the explanation page, it seems that the construct of Alexithymia is a little muddled. It says it affects 10% of the population. This means that only 1 in 10 with Alexithymia are autistic, while 90% would have other psychiatric conditions, some of which would fall within type B personality disorders like psychopaths, narcissists. I think this confusion is potentially unhelpful and damaging.
The construct includes 'inability to identify and describe emotions in the self.' This is emotional awareness, I think this is quite common in autism.
But it also includes 'marked dysfunction in ...social attachment, and interpersonal relationship'. I think attachment is something different completely that can muddle the water.
https://www.psychalive.org/anxious-avoidant-attachment/
Like here avoidant dismissive attachment can cause huge problem in relationships, but it stems from the childhood experiences, not from neurological disorder. So it looks like aspies are put together ith children of refrigerator mothers again...
I suppose it could co exist in combination ith autism, but not part of it. It does affect relationships big time, but not in the same way as not being able to describe emotions while feeling them intensely. I gather about 60% of autistic people report feeling intense emotions and intense 'empathy'. Only 25% say they lack empathy, that's a minority of autistic people.
People with attachment problems have a different problem.. I don't think all autistic people have problems with attachment. Some would have I should imagine, listening to Sarah Hendrickx. But I wouldn't recognise autistic people that I know in her description of not remembering any emotional link to anyone. My aspie family members are very warm and emotional and have secure attachment.
https://autisticnotweird.com/2018survey/