Can Aspies show TOO MUCH emotion?
Because ASD symptoms seem to be the extremes of everything and NTs are mostly neutral with most things (not everything though. They're not that perfect!), do you think some Aspies can show too much emotions?
If you don't agree with what I'm saying, I can tell you that I'm living proof. I show emotions too much. I'm always telling people how I feel, a little too much, and some people in my family are getting sick of it. Any little thing I get anxious about I tell someone before even I know what I'm worrying about. I know what I like and dislike, and tell people too. If I feel guilty or embarrassed to tell someone about something, I non-verbally show it. I wish I didn't show too much emotion. Life would be easier, in a way. When I'm out in the street and a person annoys me, I huff and puff or glare, because I just can't help showing my feelings on surface. When I'm feeling happy I don't huff and puff, but find it more natural to be patient and more relaxed (which feels good because normally I'm in a bad mood when out in public, simply because I get anxious of people).
So if anything I find it difficult to not show emotion. An elderly relative of mine has Alzheimer's, and she doesn't show any emotion any more. She doesn't even cry at anything. And just today my brother said to me out of the blue, ''she's the opposite from you!''
I don't show emotion like a Bipolar person. I can keep them under control. I'm not normally really happy, and when I am I'm just more relaxed and it's next to impossible to have an outburst when I'm happy. I'm not sure what the difference is between an outburst and a meltdown. I think I call mine ''panic attacks'' or even ''nervous breakdowns'' because that's what they sound like. I excessively cry, and want someone to cuddle me and talk to me, and I cry or get angry until I find a solution to what ever caused the fuss. (Sometimes I call them ''fusses''.)
Is this normal in an Aspie too? Can Aspies show excessive emotion, instead of not enough? And no, it's not Bipolar. I've spoken to a doctor about it, and he says it isn't, and he has diagnosed lots and lots of people with Bipolar, so he knows what it is. He just says it's part of my personality. I just thought I'd start a thread on here to see if other Aspies show too much emotion instead of not enough.
_________________
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My ex who was also aspie showed too much of it too. I always made him cry because I was too honest.
Plus he always took things the wrong way so I couldn't even tell him what was bothering me or stressing me out because he get upset. I had to keep things bottled up. He didn't seem to care but maybe he just didn't know how to deal with it or thought I was over reacting and he would get mad at me about it too. I could have said the same about him. I didn't know how to deal with it either so he said I didn't really care how he felt or did a thing about it. But yet he said I didn't show emotion much either despite my anxiety and stress and me crying. That's not showing emotion? My husband says that is when I only show it.
Mummy_of_Peanut
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Hi
I'm a very emotional person. I feel really deeply about everything and I think too much. As for displaying my emotions, if I didn't keep it under control, I'd be displaying them all the time, big style. I go from one extreme to the other - concealing them entirely or full-on emotional outburst, very little in between.
My relationship with my in-laws is awful and I just kept everything bottled up, whilst in their presence, to avoid an argument. As a result, they'd no idea the effect their words were having on me. If they said something to upset me, I'd think about it for days afterwards and have arguments, in my head, with them. My husband received the full force of my emotions and my parents were there to listen. I had a huge argument with the in-laws 8 months ago, when I exploded and was totally unable to control it. I didn't hit anyone, I would never do that, but I was shaking all over and when I was sitting, cross-legged, one of my legs kept swinging up and down. I don't speak to the in-laws anymore.
At work, my boss used to take me aside and go on about how I was too demonstrative with my feelings, i.e. she could tell something wasn't going right by the way I was sighing or throwing something, instead of placing it down, e.g. a key into a box. I never threw stuff across the room or anything like that, but she didn't like it.
Most of my monologues start because I'm feeling emotional. I sometimes start going on about my daughter (probable AS, being assessed, behavioural and personal safety issues) to my best friend and, before I know it, I've spoken for 20 minutes about my worries. She tries to make me feel better by saying things like all kids do things like that. But that just makes it worse, because I know all kids don't act like her and I wish others could see that.
I also become moody in public and have been known to storm out of shops, when I've felt the staff weren't trying to be helpful or if the music was too loud.
I really think many more people can relate to this one. I'm totally with you anyway.
Mindslave
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I strongly agree. I almost never show emotion, and have sometimes been told I should. But I know if I do I will cry all the time or want to hug people all the time, or get too intense with talking and touching. Those are big no-nos in society.
I feel like I know what animals are feeling (I live in the country so have plenty of opportunity). I even feel what my enemies are feeling (as far as I can tell), and see things from their point of view - so I find it hard to condemn anyone. This does not mean I am neutral, but like the hunter gatherer who respects his prey, I respect those I oppose, I can feel what they feel. At least that's how I feel.
Or maybe that's just me.
TenPencePiece
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JohnOldman
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I think its more likely that an aspie would show less emotion rather then more then a NT from what I understand. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
But certainty it is very possible. I had an aspie friend that would show too much emotion and he would use it to manipulate and intimidate people.
i think it is really all about not understanding the social rules about how to express emotion mixed with the isolation of not being able to really connect with most people
I would say that I play all of the angles.
When I was younger (late teens early 20's, i'm in my mid 30s now) i took a lot of acid, (in both senses quantity and frequency) and among many other things it taught me to mask everything that was happening on the inside from the outside observer. This carried over in other aspects of life.
I would call it a social mask, you may have another name for it
can we show too much emotion
HELL YES!! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !
we can also show to little
or the wrong one (as far as others around us are concerned)
not sure where I was going with this, but apparently were here
I can't deal with emotion. It's either I don't express it, or if I do I can't cope with the extent of what I'm feeling and go kinda' crazy.
I'm so lucky I have friends who can support me when I overload.
Last edited by kittie on 19 May 2011, 8:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I asked my Psychiatrist, if I could be bi-polar, because I had been so happy and so depressed in my life, and he told me no, that extreme moods are a common issue with people that have Autism/Aspergers.
I was told I was very emotional as a child, but learned to mask my intense wonder of the world, when I went to middle school, and quickly found out that smiling too much wasn't an appropriate thing for middle school boys to do.
Funny how people don't like it when a person takes joy in the world. People often told me what the heck are you taking; I want some of it, throughout most of my life. For the longest time I didn't understand what they meant by that.
Another thing I remember is when everyone was talking about getting high from smoking marijuana. I couldn't imagine feeling anybetter than I already did, but I tried it and to my amazement it made me feel numb to the sensations that I normally enjoyed in life. I also remember it made it where I couldn't taste food. I could never understand what they meant by getting high from it, I still don't.
Back then though, there wasn't much stimulation in the world and I enjoyed having the a sensitive sensory system; however I'm not too sure I would have felt that way, had I been born today and been bombarded by all the stimulus that we encounter in a normal day.
As a child going to the corner dime store (equivalent of a gas station store today) was a pretty intense experience, can't imagine what it would of been like at that age to go to SuperWalmart. What is our culture doing to us? Does it even know? Does it cause a person to lose their ability to enjoy those sensations I took for granted when I lived in that much slower moving culture?
I don't think one can compare the problems people have today with the problems they had years ago. The world is a much different place, and there, is no doubt in my mind, that it makes a huge impact on adaptation to life.
JWS
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