This feels closely related to Alexithymia or emotion blindness
Extremely common in: people with ADHD / Autism (potentially over half)
Fairly common in: people who have PTSD, people with substance abuse issues (possibly causal, alexithymia → drugs to feel something), and men (male-normative alexithymia)
People with alexithymia often identify their emotions primarily through physical sensations
For me (a male with autism, ADHD and PTSD) I can tell I’m feeling scared or anxious if my legs get cold (I believe this is a common form)
Reminds me of how a few years ago I realized that I don’t feel some forms of stress but can infer I’m stressed by noticing reduction in my nonverbal communication.
This FULLY explains my experience with panic attacks. I occasionally get all the physical symptoms, think something like “Huh, my heart is racing and it feels like air doesn’t work. I wonder why?”. I monitor my breathing and pulse for a while to make sure I haven’t forgotten how to automatically-alive or something, and (since it’s never been a heart attack before) go on with my day.
Would have been nice to know in elementary school when attempting to describe my experience with emotions (I thought I didn’t have any) got me treated for depression for a year.
This feels closely related to Alexithymia or emotion blindness
Extremely common in: people with ADHD / Autism (potentially over half)
Fairly common in: people who have PTSD, people with substance abuse issues (possibly causal, alexithymia → drugs to feel something), and men (male-normative alexithymia)
People with alexithymia often identify their emotions primarily through physical sensations
For me (a male with autism, ADHD and PTSD) I can tell I’m feeling scared or anxious if my legs get cold (I believe this is a common form)
Reminds me of how a few years ago I realized that I don’t feel some forms of stress but can infer I’m stressed by noticing reduction in my nonverbal communication.
This FULLY explains my experience with panic attacks. I occasionally get all the physical symptoms, think something like “Huh, my heart is racing and it feels like air doesn’t work. I wonder why?”. I monitor my breathing and pulse for a while to make sure I haven’t forgotten how to automatically-alive or something, and (since it’s never been a heart attack before) go on with my day.
Would have been nice to know in elementary school when attempting to describe my experience with emotions (I thought I didn’t have any) got me treated for depression for a year.