Processing Emotions

I found a good way was to start with identifying the emotions I was feeling and once I could "label" them it meant I could more easily explain them to both myself and others.

There is a diagram called the Emotion Wheel which is a simple tool to help start doing this:

click on it to enlarge it.

The processing of the emotions is possibly something that will feel more intuitive once you understand what they are, but if you struggle with this then I would recommend getting a therapist who is experienced with helping autists and work through it with them - this is something they should be trained to do and will offer confidentiality to help you avoid the shame.

It takes time - for me was a few weeks to identify emotions clearly and months to be able to articulate them. To identify and process other peoples emotions took longer still but I am much better at this now.

I found a good way was to start with identifying the emotions I was feeling and once I could "label" them it meant I could more easily explain them to both myself and others.

There is a diagram called the Emotion Wheel which is a simple tool to help start doing this:

click on it to enlarge it.

The processing of the emotions is possibly something that will feel more intuitive once you understand what they are, but if you struggle with this then I would recommend getting a therapist who is experienced with helping autists and work through it with them - this is something they should be trained to do and will offer confidentiality to help you avoid the shame.

It takes time - for me was a few weeks to identify emotions clearly and months to be able to articulate them. To identify and process other peoples emotions took longer still but I am much better at this now.

Thanks for sharing this, I love the colour patterns it makes but don’t feel I know how to apply it. In terms of negative emotions I really really struggle to describe them and their intensity. At times I try to describe them along the lines of a sudden unexpected head mess of chaos, a total paradox, a non compute, an oxymoron. Unfortunately this as communication generally fails and mental health clinicians pass me on to someone else, deeming me too complex and too high risk. 

Im ok today though, my wife and I went for a drive out to a village on a hill, laughed, enjoyed the spring flowers, walked. This brought positive emotions and I slept peacefully for a time on getting home. 

Darkness being - absence, nothing, null - is always and obviously the impossible coin side to describe 

all the best to you xxx

I agree this looks really useful, thank you.

I'm not sure if this is the correct post for this comment, but something I struggle with is actually 'feeling' emotions. Unless I have an extreme experience I find I generally don't feel anything. I process what's going on in a matter-of-fact way, and I acknowledge it, but rarely feel anything about it. Is this tied to alexithymia, or something else entirely?

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts and experiences.

This looks useful!