Published on 12, July, 2020
Okay so this might seem disjointed as it's late and brain isn't working too well. Anyway. I have been recently noticing that I do not know what many emotions feel like. I know this sounds strange, but I don't know what being happy feels like for example. The only one I know well is anger (I think). Does anyone else have this issue and is there a way to help you feel these things? I know it's an autistic trait but wondering about other people's own experiences. Thanks!
Hi Katrina
My brain isn't working too well either but I totally understand what you are saying. I find it hard to articulate emotions that are not either obvious, such as being scared or angry or ones that are not all consuming, if that makes sense. I know that I feel emotions because I'm a human and just because I'm autistic doesn't mean I'm in emotionless monster however I do find it hard to identify the myriad of emotions that my neurotypical friends and family reports to feel an experience, and moreover seem perfectly capable of differentiating between feeling sad or anxious for example.
If you ever listen to the 1800 seconds on autism podcast one of the presenters Robyn talked about this condition and many of the guests on the podcast have said they feel similar; so I guess it is literally an autism thing. Again I do feel emotions, as I suspect many people do be them autistic or neurotypical, but I'm just not confident in my ability to differentiate between them at a given point.
I'm not sure but if ambivalence or apathy are emotions then I probably do feel them quite often!
I found it especially frustrating when mental health professionals asked me about my emotional state and what has made me do into a downward spiral, not being able to tell them anything. I have had so many tell me if I don't tell them about my emotions, then they can't help me. (This was before the start of my diagnosis).
nice catch 22
Yep sometimes I wonder if they've had any awareness training at all.