Published on 12, July, 2020
I was talking earlier with someone elsewhere about how it is quite common for Autistic people not to recognise their feelings and it got me thinking! I normally say that my usual 'emotional state' is 'comfortably numb' that is, most of the time, I feel nothing. Right now, sitting here typing this, I feel nothing. I've previously wondered briefly about Alexithymia and I've even done the Alexithymia test online BUT Alexithymia is essentially not recognising one's emotions yet on the rare occasion when I do 'feel' something, I do know what I am feeling at that moment in time, in fact I've always thought that I'm quite good at understanding my own emotions, when I feel them. But the talk I was having earlier made me start to question if it's more that these 'rare occasions' of 'feeling' something are actually more rare occasions of me actually recognising what I am feeling. Am I feeling all of the time and just unaware of it, except on rare occasions? Is it even possible to feel and not be aware of feeling? Perhaps I am just being dumb/naive/overthinking? What are other people's views about this please?
Greetings to Miss Fantastic Fox... (!)... Maybe a bad thing, I have not read through this Thread, but I may offer a perspective based upon Your OP. There is a difference between 'not feeling' something and either 'not acting' upon it or 'not caring' about it. These are all normal things to feel, and occur during learning and/or self-defence. The fact that You recognise any 'feeling' of anything is a good thing, diferentiating Yourself from those who do not.
Your OP is "feeling nothing"... well, GOOD! You are simply concentrating and/or focussed! But once finished, then *that* is the time to "feel" anything (!!)... (I Myself do lie awake a lot at nights, after writing upon here sometimes, fretting, worrying a lot about what was written!) As I said first of all, do not confuse concentration or carelessness or ignorance with "not feeling"... not feeling without realising it is built into One's own Body, and, just like Breathing or Heartbeats, if there is a problem, then it will will become a REALISED FEELING.
That is pretty much all I can say for now. (Sorry for the capital letters, I cannot use italics on My old Device.)
I started this thread as a sort of self exploratory thread. I do sometimes feel, just not all the time or even every day, or even most of the come really. I'm still trying to figure out if this is a natural neurological 'not feeling' or if it is more of a defense mechanism, or, most likely, a combination of the two. Time will tell....
Kitsune said:I'm still trying to figure out if this is a natural neurological 'not feeling' or if it is more of a defense mechanism, or, most likely, a combination of the two. Time will tell....
...All of that, I say! Good Fortune To You, and end of M'Post, now.
Very likely :-)