≡ Topic: Wish there was a simpler way to read emotions

Wish there was a simpler way to read emotions
28.03.2016 by Sarah115

Hi everyone.
I had never heard of Alexithymia until today when i googled "can't work out what emotion I am feeling".

I struggle to identify what I am feeling most of the time. It feels like it could be boredom or frustration. My head often feels full but i dont know what its full of. I feel anger acutely but all other emotions are grey slippery things. To combat this i try to keep as busy as possible. I work a lot, I study, if i have 'spare time' then i'll clean, make lists, plan. i never feel the urge to do something social, i prefer to be alone. When i do social things its because i have a purpose such as needing to see those people because i work with them, or because it will make my husband happy, or because they have something i may want or need. I force myself to be social because i think i will look weird if not and i see having friends as a marker of success. The thing is when i am in social situations i sometimes enjoy myself.
I can tell when people are lying, being dodgy, anything like that. i seem to have a sense for that. however i find it hard to decipher genuine positive emotions. I wish people would change a particular colour if they like me and are thinking nice things about me so i know.

I have friends but i do not feel much towards most of them. Over the years I have changed friendship groups, deleted people from my life with ease and no feeling. I've moved alot, been in longterm relationships and not felt any sort of emotional investment so can walk away after years with someone and not feel much but inconvenience that i now may need somewhere new to live etc.
I have been married for 18 months and I cannot decipher what my feelings are about my husband. I think i love him but i dont really understand what love is. I am affectionate with him but i find it hard to show affection to others. This is getting better though and EMDR and a supportive husband i think is helping me develop emotionally.

I am highly organised with a good memory and good at organising, delegating, coordinating. I struggle with visualising things, like for example giving or taking directions even if i have been that route many times. My sense of smell is quite weak, I struggle with things like sports. i feel ill quite a lot, i get problems with my stomach and bowel, bloated, heartburn sometimes. cant seem to handle many types of food and drink. i feel tired a lot and get infections.

i am rambling now, but i feel this is all linked and i suppose i want to know if others have similar issues

I relate to your post
28.03.2016 by DXS

I see myself in your post.

I'm working on a way to read emotions.
18.07.2016 by Dave

Sarah115,
Goto http://community-info.org/NoFeelings.html and take a look at the program I'm working on to detect emotions. I've been working on this sporadically for a little over a month, and finally have it in my head on how to proceed (to write a functioning program). I've also been trying more conventional methods, like taking online tests for determining emotions displayed in pictures.

I came to the conclusion that taking facial expression tests isn't really going to help me become an empath, so I decided to try a programming solution. There are issues with Asperger's (or any ASD) that when experienced in conjunction with severe Alexithymia make it impossible to "read" emotions. Sarah115, you said you are able to "read" people to some extent, so you probably don't have the same combination of Asperger's/Alexithymia as me. However, since you're interested if other people have the same symptoms as you, you are probably interested if those people can tell you the cause of their symptoms. Some things you mentioned (e.g., having a problem following verbal directions) are symptomatic of Asperger's.

Dave