Emotions

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Hey everyone,

Do some aspies have trouble understanding the concept of certain emotions such as; embarrassment, stress or anxiety or do they just simply not know what it feels like? Also, is there a way to explain what it is so they are able to understand it? I would really appreciate if I could gain an aspie perspective on this.

I feel emotions and understand them - if they are mine and I do not have to interpret them in another person while conversating with him/her. In such a case, I need to focus on what is being said and I recognize the basic emotions (happy, sad, angry), but it happens that I mix some up in a few cases (skepsis and concern for example) or do not recognize them right away and have to think what it could be - related to facial expressions mostly. I guess this is because I do not look into the person's eyes because I think it is uncomfortable and they say eyes are where the most emotions are at. I do not have much trouble with tone of voice for example.

Concerning myself, emotions like embarrassment, stress and anxiety are such I dealt and still deal with a lot in my life, I know these too well and recognize them right away. I can also feel happy and excited, but people often do not see that I am happy or excited. I can also feel sad, which people often confuse with boredom and being tired here, I can also feel bored, which people correctly interpret as boredom or as feeling tired. I have more troubles expressing emotions than knowing the emotions because I am well aware of them and could often name what I feel although there are such cases in which no emotion I am aware of fits, I could still describe them though I guess.

In fact, my psychologist said that I have a monotone voice and limited gestures and somewhat limited facial expressions.

EDIT: Wow, already have posted 2^7 times. Damn, I'm a spammy WP member. I prefer 256 though as a number.

Assuming you're not a troll, and just know nothing about ASD -

I think you've confused the terms "Aspie" with "NT".

Aspies feel everything very intensely and deeply. NTs are almost always incapable of understanding what it's like not to be so empty and numb.

Attempting to explain what feelings are to an Aspie is like a blind man trying to explain to a sighted man what colors really look like. He assumes the sighted man is incapable of seeing them since he can't identify with the blind man's interpretation of something the blind man has no actual experience with.

I have difficulty with eberrything related to emotions.

Yes I do but really have a hard time with them expressively except anger I do that one well. Dealing with other peoples is really hard for me.

whoever told him he doesn't experience stress is also very uninformed. Anxiety is one of the most common symptoms of AS. What most people think of as stress or anxiety is the most relaxed most of us ever achieve...perhaps even with chemical help. Perhaps he can't understand why they would refer to such a relaxed state as stressful or anxiety! lol

I had trouble for years to understand "embarrassment" and "disgust".

Embarrassment, stress and anxiety etc are the major feelings that I've been living with since my childhood. I'm more familiar with those feelings than I would like to. And I thought other people with AS tend to have a lot of experience with those feelings, too, because of their social awkwardness, sensory issues etc.

Sometimes it is hard to recognize and identify an emotion. Fear is easier to identify than stress or anxiety

I have very intense feelings but I am unable to act on them. People say I don't care because i'm not expressive, don't show it on my face or in my voice. I am angry by this because I know I feel it inside...I know I truly feel. I am always in shock how easily normal people act on their emotions... they seem to be enslaved to them...taking a reactionary stance on everything (Yelling, arguing, fighting). I think that is destructive and scary, I am often terrified by how normal people react to things, I don't trust them. I think a lot of problems in the world are due to acting on ones emotions and just ignorance in general.

It can certainly take a while for me to process emotions, especially the kind of emotions that surround a meltdown. This is something that I wish could be made easier, but I'm not sure how to do that for myself.