I am recently recognising that I have difficulties in identifying emotions. I feel them... but my initial recognition of emotion is usually pre-verbal. I have found myself describing feelings as "bleugh" and "uuuugghhh!" initially, and though I can find the words for them, it takes me a lot of thinking to try to find the right word. The emotions that I find easy to recognise are the obvious feelings like terror, and I only recognise that by physical sensation otherwise I'm confused!

The fact that I can only get at emotions by writing, journalling, and thinking a lot makes me wonder if others have to spend so much time just identifying what they are feeling too...

The psychological term for this difficulty is Alexithymia.

Anyone struggle similarly like this? Research suggests a high rate of those with PTSD suffer with recognising emotions specifically (up to 40% from what I have read), and I am wondering if those here on this forum feel this and reflect the research?

Thanks!

This is one of the things I find the most distressing. It seems like I've forgotten how to feel, or to recognise what I'm feeling - so I feel kind of disconnected from myself. Sometimes I'll be upset but have no idea why, or I'll just dissociate instead of having a real emotional reaction to anything.

I struggle with this big time. When I first started counseling, I could describe only two emotions: I felt either "okay" or "bad." What a range!

My counselor has been helping me describe my physical experiences and then name them. Now I'm really good at knowing when I'm scared. I still struggle a whole lot with knowing when I'm angry.

Yes, some periods of my life more than others. Often times I don't know how I feel about something until I say it out loud.

Yes, often. And this makes it particularly difficult to have a conversation with my wife when she is dealing with her emotions in "real time" and expects me to do the same. We have often had "disconnects" over our ten year marriage, and at those times I have been numb or angry or just frustrated, at which point I am tempted to head out to the woods or off to a pub. As I learn more about why I have disconnected with my feelings, I am hoping to recognize and integrate them so that I am more connected with those around me. Not attached, but connected.

What, I'm supposed to have emotions...what are those??? (JK)

nic :-)

Currently, learning to identify how I feel. It's rather remedial but I am making progress. Hopefully, I can grow beyond cavewoman and become a little more emotionally evolved and sophisticated. I have never put much value in emotions. Recently, I have become fully aware of the consequences of this. I am seeing some potential value in learning to identify how I feel. It isn't clear to me yet as to how, except to help me become more whole as a person.

I do find it hard to recognize my emotions. A lot of the time I won't know that I am sad until I am crying and even then, I won't know why I am sad. Sometimes I work on recognizing why in therapy. In therapy, I'll talk about something then start to sound sad and my therapist will mention that I sound sad and ask me what made me sad and I'll say I don't know, then we try to find out.

Yes. I have a very hard time recognizing emotions. I have a tendancy to just "numb out". When asked what I am feeling, many times I end up extremely frustrated and angry just over the question.

Communicating feelings is even more difficult than recognizing feelings.

oh my gosh, I have the hardest time knowing how I feel!! And I always say that I feel "ugghhh"!!! Funny thing is that I'm a writer! I can write about feelings using metaphors, but when it comes to recognizing my own feelings, I'm at a complete loss. I'm so glad that I'm not the only one.