Published on 12, July, 2020
The title really. I often find myself after conversations, even if nothings gone wrong in the conversation, going to the mirror and checking my facial expressions to see if my face looked 'normal' during said convo. Does anyone else do this?
I think I got more expressive as an adult due to masking or at least this is what I think. I can’t see myself from outside and mirror reflection is not enough. I’m fact i often get asked why I’m sad when I’m not. Probably it’s people misinterpreting my flat expression as sadness. I also hear that I have robotic moves and that generally I’m weird
Wooden heart - Elvis Presely . Flat affect. is a symptom of many disorders, schizophrenia, strokes, autisms, depression. I m not sure sometimes if i'm just a schizophrenic in a bad mood. (people drive me crazy after a while) I'm not sure if i always had a flat expression, but i think so. I might have been more expressive as child though. But life wears that down. That childlike enthusiasm.
I'm bet you have a lovely smile! Everyone's smile is different. A true smile is beautiful regardless of how it looks because it shows that you are truly happy :) I hear my friends say that sort of thing, too, but I think they have a beautiful smile because I love them!
I dont really have a good idea of what my expression look like when i'm in a convo. I might be like a statue most of the time, (THATS WHEN YOU CAN THE BAD REP) or i might contort alot if excited and animated gesticalating about something of interest or im passionate about (RARELY), or i might doing some basic bare minimum maintenance movements, likes nods, eyebrow raises, small movements, maybe a smirk, but its just muscle twitches. I look in the mirror all the time and try out expressions but its so...meh. I wish I had Jim Carreys control. He's just so charismatic. He mastered the art of bodily and facial expression.
Same here! I hate my smile, the corners of my mouth always go down
I do it all the time! I always imagine a certain facial expression in my head, but when I check the mirror, it looks completely different. For example, when I try and do a smile, sometimes I check in the mirror and it looks more like a grimace
Yes me too! I notice in photos of me I think I'm smiling then when I see the photo the smile hasn't actually come out from the inside.
Yes, I agree. Afterwards it’s different. I saw myself on a video (it was in late 90’s, I was around 10) I couldn’t watch myself there. Awful! I stood up and frustrated left the room. Other kids were so expressive and I had some sort of “wooden expression” and I hated that. I had feelings that I was watching a slightly disabled child - myself. I didn’t see it from inside or in the mirror. Now I know my subconscious impression of seeing a slightly disabled child was right. First I thought I was just ugly but then I understood, it wasn’t me ugly, it was something wrong with me.
I did. it for years! After and also before - training of the expression before planned / possible interaction with people. After realising I’m autistic I decided to stop masking so hard and I don’t do it anymore.
The only time I tend to look in a mirror these days is when I brush my teeth, or feel a need to pluck an unwanted hair from my face.
I cannot say that I have ever felt the need to look in a mirror to check if my facial expressions are 'normal'. It's just not something that I have ever worried about.
There have been occasions during conversations when I have felt ok, but other people have interpreted my facial expression as me being anxious, displeased, fearful, etc. I now tend to laugh it off and tell them that it must be my resting b*tch face.
I do check that a smile is actually visible to others, it seems I try to smile but it doesn’t always come out on the outside of me.
I don't think that this is unusual. It is more common with women than men. I rarely look at myself in the mirror at all.
Matcha said: to see if my face looked 'normal' during said convo. Does anyone else do this?
If the conversation has finished then you are probably going to be in a different "mode" of masking so checking your face won't tell you how you looked back then.
You need a hand mirror to hold up and check during the conversation to make sure you look totally normal and not strange in the slightest
Sorry, I only jest as when you rationalise it then it is not telling you what you want to know.
In answer to your question, no I don't.
I’d never really properly thought about this, but now you’ve asked this I realise that I do often check my facial expression in the mirror before, rather than after, meetings or other social gatherings that are causing me nerves. It’s almost like I need to get my face right to be able to contribute (which I then don’t always manage to do very well), but that’s what I do
No but I have been accused of making faces when someone was talking in a meeting. Also been told to take that look of your face!