Alexithymia // What it's like to not know how you feel  

How do you score on the test? I got 124

True story: I had an anxiety attack after my husband proposed to me. I literally had to sit alone in our room for about twenty minutes to sift through what was wrong. It took me that long to realize that I wasn't anxious or upset at all, but experiencing such a high level of excitement and happiness that it felt similar to a panic attack. I'm extremely fortunate to have a partner who loves and accepts me.

I have an emotion that is literally "meh". Kind of a little bit of everything, not really anything in particular. When people ask me how I'm doing, it's usually that. I just learned to say "meh" *shrugs*

Yep, that "how are you?" used to trip me up all the time bc it would make me pause and momentarily short circuit. "How am I?....I have no idea, I'd have to think about it." and then I remember they really don't care so after a pregnant pause it's "I'm fine." or the "How's it going?" my now immediate response is "It's going" lol bc it would take me too long and derail me from the moment to have to sit back and think of an actual truthful response and ppl don't care anyways.

OMG. I'm 50 years old and it has affected every relationship I've had. I've been called "cold, distant, uncaring, not paying attention". Literally thought I was psychopathic for a while. So glad I found out it is Alexithymia. I tell people it takes me at least 2 days to figure out to process an emotional event. Lol You hit this so directly on the head for me.

I had no idea this was a thing. Years ago I had CBT and my therapist would ask me how I was feeling. I'd answer, and every time, she'd say "those are thoughts, not feelings". I couldn't name the feelings until she showed me that emotions wheel. It was helpful to see examples written down.

"My facial expressions don't always match the emotions that I have inside". So true. Today a close and sympathetic friend asked me if I was feeling down. I was feeling quite chirpy, or at least thought I was. Since I often don't know how I am feeling, I was taken aback, and wondered, "am I feeling down?" rather than asking "what makes you think I am feeling down, do I seem down?" Shoot, I'm confused now!

For me, when I think about it, "Happy" has always just been the temporary absence of anxiety. Of course, that's complicated too, because for a long time, I didn't realize that I was feeling anxiety all the time either. I also want to say that you really hit the nail on the head with this: "I came to the conclusion that love isn’t a feeling, it’s a set of actions, what you and your partner do for each other, that truly matters."

113. But I couldn't really answer all the questions, because a lot of them were about situations I don't really encounter.

Being a late diagnosed autistic I've been watching loads of vids on the subject but yours _really_ stand out in a very positive way. Great insight, really to the point, without unnecessary drama and a pinch of humor now and then: thank you so much for this. Will subscribe.

Finally. Something that explains what’s wrong with me. All my life, I have never been able to voice my emotions. Even expressing them is difficult. Because of my inability to identify and fully express my emotions, I have outbursts that manifest in crying and anger.

Great video!! Thank you!!! I'm doing personal research on CEN and early trauma. Numerous sources said that aleximythia is common for most trauma survivors. I didn't know there was a name for it!!! I'm glad I watched this video!

I got 126 but I’m conflicted. One of my special interests is psychology so I‘ve learned a lot about emotions. If I stop and think about things, I’m usually able to identify my own emotions and what other people might be feeling now. I used to have a much harder time with that. I still can have a really hard time explaining how I feel, though.

142. I appreciate the view that negative emotions are easier to identify - I’ve often thought I’m anxious or depressed (and carry that diagnosis) but it didn’t explain everything. I’ve seen therapists thinking I have “problems with interpersonal relationships” only to be told I’m fine because I can analyze very well. I didn’t realize at that point that I literally cannot feel a big emotion in front of another person.

I've watched this video about 6 times over the last few years. It's SO helpful, even though I (and you, i think!) have improved this over time. Struggling in Therapy is EXTREMELY relatable! I'm fairly certain I've frustrated a few of them before finally finding this and other Alexithymia videos. They'd say "What do you feel, physically?" when I can't articulate my emotion. I say weird stomach, tight neck but maybe that's from sleeping on it wrong. They ask me "So what does a knot in your stomach and tightening throat mean?" and I'd be trying to engage authentically but just come up with"uhhhh indigestion? Stage fright? Nervous from a video call?" over and over until they had to change tactics, lol. The guy who got me to identify, split off a discreet 'entity' and have a conversation with that was the best, by far, and I've used this tactic often. No surprise autistics seem well represented in occult circles, lol. That's ritual summons 101. --- Have you ever taken an MBTI test? I am ultra curious since you have such insight into the way I am as well, so I'm curious how we compare as an INTP for me.

i need this wheel please i need that it would help me so much😭 Also i resonate so so hard with you, its like you put alot of what i feel into words❤️💚💓 thank you so much for helping me understand myself better!

I scored 153. But I think my issue is emotional lag, in addition to excessive nuance and layers of emotions, moods and sensations. I'm often out of sync with others due to the delay, and others can't follow or contain with my intensity, nuance, and layers.

I look at the emotional wheel and then I'm like: "Huh? Annoyance to anger? They are like entirely different emotions!" When it comes to emotions when I look at the wheel every emotion is separate in my head from each other, I don't go from annoyed to angry, I'm just angry... full stop. When I get frustrated I don't start off irritated, I'm just frustrated... full stop. Probably why I have frustration issues in the past and needed to learn self-control over time is that I feel one distinct emotion and because it is distinct I spiral deeper into said emotion. I express as if my emotions are light-switches, *flick* "FRUSTRATION" and since I don't go to another emotion because the situation gives me a feedback loop for that one emotion I spiral off into even deeper frustration. I think I feel emotions intensely because there is no mental mediation from one 'stage,' to another, 'stage.' Every emotion is distinct so my feelings of an emotion can intensify indefinitely, so I can get UNBELIEVABLY FRUSTRATED, and then there is a problem. So unlike the emotional wheel I will never go from angry to a rage, I'll probably be angry, stop being angry, start feeling rage. There was an interesting analogy about how emotions can be light-switches for some and a slow mediation for others. For me, first you must turn on the emotion and then you can start turning the dial, lowering it or making it higher, but sometimes the dial is set to be very high... so sometimes I seemingly jump from one emotion to a very intense alternate emotion in a snap. For my frustration issues, it has always been feeling frustration too intensely at the start and letting that take over the situation so I'd spiral off into uncontrollable frustration, the dial being turned up uncontrollably. How do I feel at this moment? I naturally tend to feel smoothly relaxed and joyful, with a quiet little flame in my soul bursting with energy, as I stand ready to let existence flow through me, appreciating the inner happiness/excitement, like an inner rainbow in an abstract glowy purple thing of the state of being, I am relaxed naturally and easygoing for there are no pressing matters at hand and it is the best time to live in the moment, and it always will be, so I sink into that moment for every moment, alleviating unnecessary barries and suffering to focus simply on a more primal form of happiness or perhaps a feeling of good spiritual health simultaneously, I easygoingly let things come by and remain accepting of them... and so the flame in my soul is there in preparation of executing ideas into a methodical action in my mind in a prepared extended moment. Perhaps you can call the flame determination, but it is not quite so, offering itself closer to a form of readiness or empowerment, but it is still distinctly a spiritual flame. Um... it would be kind of difficult to give that answer to a, "how are you," question for practical purposes :p.

Every morning when going to work I tend to practice what I believe is a proper reply to that "How are you?" question. My most natural reply would actually be a description about something that I did, such as "I finished this excellent knitting project yesterday". Which I understand doesn't make sense to most people as a reply.

Interesting.... I got 123. I can totally relate to the emotions and feelings being so complex.. I feel so much, all the time! In writing I can express these emotions better than verbally. It's like I'm a completely different person on paper than when you're having a conversation with me .. confusing..

159. Not surprised really. Diagnosed autistic at 28 myself. Still figuring myself out and emotions have always been a side thought for me, though significantly service/action oriented to show my support for others. Habitually burn myself out helping others because I put their needs over my own to show how important they are.

141. I have the type of Alexithymia where literally everything about my emotions are normal.. with only sometimes not being able to identify them.. Except I can’t feel them any at all. I’ll cry, laugh or frown.. But then all of a sudden I become self aware and realise that I feel nothing. When I’m crying, I can just stop and smile, or act angry or just stop.. Unless it’s extremely bad, but.. I don’t feel anything either way. I know what’s good and bad, but I “understand” emotions differently. I can only have a theoretical understanding of an emotion, since I can’t feel it at all. My mum had to tell me that feeling bored and feeling numb were different, and that feeling bored was.. Feeling bored.. I want to feel love and for there to be a cure, but then I think about all the times I or someone else have cried and I realise that me being emotionally numb may be a blessing more than anything else. Due to my religion, I cannot marry for anything apart from love.. So I will never be able to have a husband or kids, which I always thought I would. I will be alone. I am about to cry, writing this, but I feel nothing.

You make me smile when you say "So we can all keep lying" haha

People: How are you? Me: i live...

I had no idea that this was what this is called! I knew that some autistic people had this struggle and have been identified with it by my peers/family (other autistic people in my family carry it as well) but I am still astounded at how someone has so neatly expressed this feeling (or 'lack of knowing what I'm feeling') into words! Especially when in therapy, how much it helps me because it's the one time I have the opportunity to identify what I'm feeling - which I can't do most of the time. I've seen that emotion wheel before, but hadn't thought of using it for myself, so thank you for that great idea it's going to really help me! The only other way I express what I'm feeling is through writing, but it's still very hard to know exactly what! So yeah, this was enlightening and thanks for getting this out there! :D

175. I acknowledge it is a problem, for when your sentiments are very strong ( sadness, angst, fear ), you don't know what it is, and therefore you can't solve it, and therefore you keep suffering instead of moving on. Hm.

“how do you feel?” “...uhh..”

I'm so glad you mentioned "How are you?" ! I usually deflect the question, if possible!!!

i really appreciate the sound effects to go with the visual effects that i otherwise might not notice (since i'm mostly listening)

122. I have no trouble emphasizing with other people's emotions, but I NEVER understand what my emotions are doing at ANY given time. Like... I sure am feeling Something! I feel like I feel a lot, it's just that I couldn't easily describe it to someone if they ask. Like I'd want to make up a word that doesn't exist. "How are you feeling?" "I'm feeling very shmUBrbsgd, thanks!"

You described my kind of emotions very well. I have the kind of emotions that are mixed, complicated, ambiguous, subtle or sometimes even unique. You describe it as shades of gray, whereas I would call it a rainbow of colors, or a complex mixture of colors like a Jackson Pollock painting. Most of my feelings don't fit into the usual categories, and sometimes there are literally no words for them. It's not that I'm emotionally blind or illiterate; I am clearly aware of my feelings and subjective states. It's just that the cultural lexicon is inadequate to describe them.

no, cuz u explained it SO good and accurately for me

Thank you for this informative video! I found out about Alexithymia a little more than a day ago now and actually already took the test then: I got 126. I've been living with depression since 12 years old (I'm 22 now) and recently, my anxiety has gotten worse, and the random body pains I get got worse/more frequent too. I also have almost always turned to other people and external factors for what my feelings should be and struggle with needing external motivators even though I recently realized motivation is supposed to come from within. That doesn't even get into the struggles of not being able to identify or communicate my emotions, family issues surrounding emotional availability and not even being able to feel when I'm hungry until it's obnoxious... Long story short, me finding out about Alexithymia was a long time coming with how many symptoms line up with what I'm dealing with. 😅😅😅

Does this apply with tone of voice? I really struggle with sounding angry when I talk... but it's not intentional.

So you are telling me that people actually feel something when they feel in a certain way? Fascinating

You describe the emotional wheel very well, thank you. You helped me make sense of it in a new way :)

I remember I used to say I'm tired very often as a kid. But anytime I did my Dad would say "You don't even know what tired is yet." The thought that I could be more tired than I currently was scared me... Scored 156 on the test

I scored 139. I'd never heard of alexithymia, but I've always known I have great difficulty describing my emotions or how I feel. Now I know it has a name, just like the Asperger's syndrome I have. Masking, alexithymia, autism, so many other things I can identify with watching your videos. Thank you.

Thank you for putting this into words!!

Thank you so much! I scored 120 and this explains so much. A great part of my depression, that I had as a small child, is because I don't know how to feel. It makes me utterly sad to talk about my emotions and I don't know if I feel any better after 10 years of therapy because I just don't know how I feel. I'm so happy that for once in my life, someone understands me. Or maybe I'm having a panick attack, I don't know for sure.

Thank you for making this video! I am going to use it to help explain alexithymia to other people. I scored 148 but even more interesting to me is that when the various traits are broken out from the total score I was "high alexithymic traits" on 5 out of 7 traits and "no alexithymic traits" on 2.

Holy shit, this was so relatable. Somehow I thought I was quite good at understanding emotions and I didn't even realise this was a problem for me. I scored 133. I hope this insight can help me to understand myself better. Thank you so much!

I had no idea this was a thing (but aren't all things a thing?) Just took the test and scored 149... it makes things make more sense! Thanks Sam

I am autistic, and got 144 points on the test. Thank you for the tip, Sam. Your videos are always very interesting.

142. I particularly struggle identifying emotions like anger or dissatisfaction. I've had numerous experiences where people react to my unhappiness and that's my first clue that I was even unhappy. Working on faster identification.

142. I am much more analytical about "feelings". I put feelings in quotation marks because I don't understand them as an actual thing. It is elusive. The feelings I feel are: anxiety, annoyance, frustration, depression, tiredness, and gladness (which is actually usually just intellectual, not emotional). Basically, most of my life I am either anxious, annoyed, or depressed and tired (or all of the above), otherwise, I don't really have feelings as much as thoughts about things. Happiness is really just a feeling of not having feelings I think. At least that's what it feels like to me. I think if I don't have any bad feelings, I guess I must be happy. Deductive reasoning, ya know, lol! Having no emotions is fine with me. Much more stable that way. Very rare though for me to be completely void of anxiety, frustration, or depression, though. I do have a much better awareness of how other people are feeling than how I feel. But I don't really want to talk about feelings. One of the questions was, do you prefer to talk about feelings or daily activities, and my answer is really neither because talking about daily activities falls under the category of small talk for me. I prefer to talk about interesting concepts and ideas. If someone asks me how I'm doing, I'm like, um... do you want the fake short version or the complicated version... kind of like you said. Love is definitely not a feeling. Love is a choice and a decision and then you can act upon that choice/decision. When people "fall out of love" it means they're not willing to try to put in the effort anymore. I do completely set myself aside when I am with other people. My attention is all on them basically. So any feelings or issues I do have disappear completely as I focus on them and their feelings, if they're having any. When I am looking at something beautiful (like in nature), I know it is beautiful, and I like looking at it, but I don't really have an actual emotion because of it. But I think it is then that I consider myself to be happy or at peace or something.

My last relationship broke down because my girlfriend told me many times that she loved me, but I couldn't say it to her. I did and still do have a huge amount of affection towards her, but for some reason I couldn't tell her I loved her. There are now two people who are now suffering a massive loss because of my condition.

"Points: 155 High Alexithymia Traits: You show high alexithymic traits." I'm not surprised at all. Rather glad actually. Thank you for the insight!

The fact that this pooped up on my recommended 2 days after I had an emotional breakdown because I couldn’t understand what emotions I was feeling.i was laughing then crying then angry then confused it was a mess I knew what emotions I was feeling because of the different ways the emotions was put but I didn’t understand why I was feeling these emotions

You're really self aware of your gifts to percieve feelings, that's enough to develop whatever you think you lack about feelings, if you'd like to. Theorically, I have asperger syndrome. I used to think I had alexithymia. Then I compromised with my feelings intelligence and whenever I nottice feelings asking for my attention I try to listen to them right in the moment they rise. Little by little I become sensible, they become solved and we start working better.

My sister asked me the other day how I know I love my husband, actually she said she didn’t know if she loved her husband or just was comfortable with him. I thought yeah I think I love my husband but I’m mostly comfortable with him and see that he meets my needs and I meet his. Isn’t that love? Especially the long time married love. When I was younger I was always saying “I’m tired.” People thought I was complaining all the time, but that was just how I saw what I was feeling. I wasn’t feeling anything and thought that was because I was tired. I was also probably already feeling burn out in high school and didn’t realize it.

Thank you so much for this! I definitely have alexithymia, and it might be autism but I'm not 100% sure. It seems likely, though, because I also have a lot of "social difficulties" that I never grew out of like people said I would.

I agree I don’t think people really care how you feel, and I don’t really care to share how I feel with them. I scored 165 on the test which I haven’t thought much about other than I know I never stop struggling and get extremely tired. If I’ve had a great time with friends I go home and feel so happy that I then have to work really hard at calming down. Sometimes I would rather just keep life simple and stay home. I used to ask at times how do people know if they the are in love with someone as I was married but knew I didn’t experience this except when it came to my children. I learned much from having children, though my sons are autistic,but very high functioning, I often saw other peoples children as difficult and cruel and never really liked most of them. But then ,I was never that interested in playing with other kids most of the time as a kid myself. The emotional side of autism is probably my most challenging as it is quite confusing for me. Though I have developed a lot of skills to interact, I know my sons have trouble with emotions and can’t read people’s faces.

I got a score of 143. this is something that i have only just found out about and fits me perfectly

I got 107, I understand others' emotions better than my own. I can comfort people when they’re sad. I don’t know gif to describe my emotion because I either feel a lot of different emotions at once or none at all. I know how I feel personally I just don’t know how to tell people I hate getting asked to talk about my feelings or how I feel.

I figured out that I probably have alexithymia yesterday, and today I took the quizz and got 155... this explains so much

I clicked on this video by accident, and stuck around because you were pretty describing me.

For me it started when I had to do the most hardest and regretful thing I had ever done. It is to do the request of my mother not to cry when I see my sister pass away from cancer. The night before she pass away my mom was the only person that stop me from crying. I was crying because all of my family members agreed that it was time for her to be in peace, but for me I know she could still fight it. That night my mom told me to go school in the morning and not cry when I see my sister life less. At that moment I didn’t even know what to say or what my emotion was and just agreed to her. The following day I went to school I was feeling anxious hoping I will not get the call that everyone dosen’t want to hear. Then the call came I was heading down to meet my cousin who pick me up, there’s was really no conversations between me and her. The only time we had conversations was in her car. In her car she told me that the life support was already out and that she was in peace me now. When she said that I didn’t know what to feel or do. As we where heading to the hospital flashbacks of her came back and as I get close to seeing her my mind was suppressing every emotions that I was feeling. When I got to see her I was like mannequin with no emotions or feelings, while other was crying and sad. Even at her funeral I didn’t feel any emotions at schools it was the same. I was like this for about 5 months or a year. The only time I felt a real emotion was on her anniversary. I knew I felt sadness and anger. I also know I was crying. Till this it’s the only emotions and feelings that I know of. I don’t even know what it feels to be happy or excited, I just feel anxious and don’t know if it’s really happiness. I hope that I could regain happiness again, but for know it’s like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

As a writer I’ve always been more comfortable navigating the emotions of fictional characters because I don’t have to address my own or try deciphering/dealing with other people’s. It’s draining to handle irl, my therapy sessions end up unpacking what I’ve been feeling for weeks without knowing, and afterward I get so exhausted after finally acknowledging it all. I scored a 134, thought “Nah, maybe I interpreted this wrong, I’m still emotional”, took it again and scored even higher lol. I think I’d failed to see being emotional does not equate to having fluency in such.

“To give any further detail would involve 2 hours and probably a bit of crying”. 😬 oof that one hits 😅😅

so i shared this video to my friend and asked him if he feels all emotions or not and told him how I don't always feel emotions at times. I feel neutral and often don't feel as happy as I should even though i know I should be happy. And didn't feel "in love" when I was married for 8 years. I never feel love like people do. He told me "haha not to sound rude but every living thing feels emotions." blah blah blah. I don't think he watched this video and i don't think he understands.

How are you in my head?????!!!!!! I am not diagnosed with anything, but I so resonate with most of the things you've said.

Interestingly I got 121, which is also apparently high, even though the idea didn't initially resonate with me. Maybe it's something I should look into more haha, maybe my "normal" isn't everyone elses!

Great video! I've watched it with a smile and my score is 131 which was surprising for me because I consider myself really good at talking about feelings but of course those feelings can seem overanalyzed to people around me

Mixed results. 102. A couple were high. A couple were none and it was mixed for the rest.

Thank you, that was helpful. I scored a 92, so I have low to no alexithymia. I think what I struggle with more is dissociation. It's not that I can't identify feelings so much as I struggle to even recognize what's happening in my body. I tend to be very in my head and analytical. Still autistic, though.

Score: 125, "High Alexithymia Traits: You show high alexithymic traits." A lot of the time I feel like I'm just performing "emotions", putting on a show for myself and others, hoping that maybe one day it'll make sense. I can usually tell when folks are happy or upset but often have a hard time understanding why. I know I tend to be hypersensitive, so knowing that I missed something that might have been important to someone or, even worse, discovering I caused someone discomfort is utterly devastating to me.

I found out today that people cry, also i dont remember ever being sad, i got 164, my friends call me a souless b*tch and they say they have real problems and that i didnt get and side effects from the jag cause i cant feel it, i can feel it just cant express the pain

Personally, I like the Vulcan reference. Outside, we look emotionless. But on the inside, it's utter chaos. This describes me until I'm pushed to show them, such as anger which is the strongest emotion I have other than joy. So I have to be careful with anger. I just channel it into art or music. Martial arts can help too. It may be different to others.

I got 130; but my latest relationship has been so good for helping me to access age understand my emotions, and the questions provided seem to be for more socialised people than I

I thought that I don't have alexithymia because I can describe my emotional state but then I watched this video and read comment section and realised that "tired" or "fine" may not be exact description of my feelings. I scored 141 on the test.

Scored 151 on the test. I would describe my feelings like a snowstorm, and all the little snowflakes are all up in the air moving chaotically along the winds. And trying to construct an emotion is the process of catching the snowflakes and try to build a snowball. And only some of the snowflakes will "catch" on the ball I am making. And if I focus on the ball, I can make it bigger, and I can draw inside myself to make more and more snowflakes, but always only some of them will catch. Physically, the process of making the ball will involve physical activities, breathing exercises, stretchings, dancing, making faces and so on. And when the ball is done, I go "There you go. This is the emotion I am feeling right now". And the ball can be of different sizes. Sometimes, the ball is easier to make or gets bigger. I conjecture that sometimes, some kinds of balls are easier to make than others at any given time, but I cannot make 2 balls at once to compare them. I do not think about my emotions in terms of "which ball would be the biggest" or "which ball would be the easiest to make" right now. But rather I tend to think of my emotions in terms of "Which ball would be useful to me right now"? Like, when I was learning how to mobilize patients at the trade school, I would make a playful ball, and I would say things like "It's my turn to play the game" and it would make the exercises fun and easier to learn. I would say that there is no correct or incorrect type of snowball to make in a particular snowstorm. There is no correct or incorrect way to process any set of raw feelings into an emotion - but there are such things as adequate and inadequate emotions to have in different contexts. It is seldom, but not never, adequate to be impatient, for example.

Alexithymia for me is difficult to explain (as it normally is) but think about when a therapist says what's wrong or how do you feel and your answer is I don't know. It's basically like you know something is different but don't know what it is

I got an 82. Although I would've easily gotten over 100 just a few years ago. So it's not impossible for someone with this problem to improve in understanding their emotions!

My score was 135, and yes, I do have most of the Asperger Syndrome's trademarks, but I was never medically diagnosed.

Interesting info. Explains my ex (who is still my friend after many years) and how he used to be with me. I didn't understand it and I had to interpret that he wasn't interested in me so I ended the relationship. But this may be what he has. I will discuss it with him next time I see him!

My therapist was actually the one who suggested I might have alexithymia! Although the way he worded it made it seem like he was saying I didn't actually have depression it was just that I couldn't label the feelings I was having, which wasn't explicitly true. I could acknowledge that what I was feeling wasn't good or normal, I just don't know what flavour of not good. I got 124 as well so I think I need to look into it more ☺ thank you!

Yikes 156 here. Thankyou so much for finding this as I knew something was up but couldn't define exaclty what was wrong.

“Hey Alexa-thymia. Tell me how I feel?” 😂😂😂 You’re a riot, Sam! Love your humor

I scored 118. Surprisingly high, I didn't expect to be that affected by this. I scored highest in "vicarious interpretation of feelings."

Even though I'm on the autism spectrum myself, I do also think we've become too quick to give a name and pigeon hole what are just differences in personality. Obviously not everyone thinks the same, just some people (probably those not on the spectrum) find it easier to mould their own behaviour and thinking to fit with societal norms.

These comments are so helpful giving me ideas for my next responses to the question "How are you?" Well. You? or Old. or Regular. or Indifferent. or Pale. Sure, it might make the other person uncomfortable, but they started it. I gotta take that test now. (!)

147, just found the term Alexithymia Today and spent a whole hour crying while really confused as to why I was crying

Does anyone else absolutely hate feeling angry? It’s like such an extreme to me even though I’ve been told my version of anger is not intense in the slightest. Like, it makes me mad if I feel mad. My resting state is just “fine” or “meh” so anything other than that that has like physical tells is so irritating and causes immediate sensory overload. I’d rather be neutral all the time. Why can’t I feel happy or content as a resting state like other people claim to? Like I don’t understand that at all. Also, when people ask how I am and I say “I’m fine,” why do they assume there is some hidden meaning to that? Fine is just fine to me. Why do they think it means bad?

funny, when you asked me how i feel i tried to pick out the strongest feeling, but it was all a mix of unexplainable feelings and i ended up thinking "depression, i guess" i scored 111

If this name reminds you of Alexander, it's because they both share a common root in ancient Greek. The first part, "alex", means to repel things. The second word, "thymia" or else "thymos" in ancient Greek, is the word for soul and feelings. (also, Alexander is the one who can repel the other men, as "andras" in Greek means man).

I finally saw a psychologist in my 30s. She informed me about emotions. I was baffled at first. I honestly had no effing clue why either I or others were doing irrational things 😂🤣😂

I always wonder: WHO gets to define it? You know what I mean? Good take on emotional "blindness"

Well that was weird, 144. I hate it when therapists say, where did you feel that emotion. I usually look back blankly and say in my head. But apparently I describe thoughts and not feelings. Well who knew.

I know I'm late and you probably won't see this but I can't express (no pun intended) how it makes me feel to finally get some kind of answer to what is (arguable) wrong with me. I had a major fight with my partner a month ago and I had to, for the first time look at myself. I've always lived in a kind of autopilot mode and left it at that, never asking questions about myself just accepting that "yep that's just me, it's how I am and how I'm broken" I have a monotone voice and hardly ever use facial expressions and when it came to explaining my emotions I wouldn't be able to word it, it's just a feeling, I could only explain anger and sadness in their most basic forms, hot when angry crying when sad but anything else I couldn't get through. To know what I struggle with and better yet to know what it's called and that other people live with it is a really bizarre thing and I think I can finally work on bettering myself. Thank you.

When I am asked "how are you?" I respond with "well" because physically I am well. Side steps the whole emotions and mental health bit.

Yay! I have a word to describe this now :) Thanks! I got 145 on that test.

I scored 156! I have no emotion, no empathy or feelings! I feel absolutely nothing.

I got 140. Thank you for the information.

I score 148. But I have known about Alexithymia for a long time. I also have Asperger's. I am 60. I live in London but I am having trouble getting officially diagnosed for both A & A.

I love your Alexa reference joke at the beginning. 🤣🤣

I got 115 on this test, what puzzles me is that I'm a therapist of the body (acupunturist), and I'm pretty good in identifying people's emotions. I tend to read them well. But when it turns to my own, It's all overwhelming. I just feel "meh" or I feel too much, and is complex. So when my husband asks i just say things like 'i'm tired' or 'i've got a headache' (is there any relation to headaches and the sensory sensitivity in aspergers?), because it's hard to explain.

Early losses and domestic abuse in childhood background. I found the test boring since I have worked hard on my EQ and have reached fairly high level of awereness.. until I am trying to start a relationship that is. But, I have already worked my way of out-of-body dissonance to this day where I'll "just" have a meltdown of sorts and then life goes on, although I kinda secrectly want to just stumble across Mr. Right and hope that he stays, so hard it it. I met my first autistic guy and he was not running the hills yet so maybe I'll have a keeper this time around.

I think I'm depressed but I'm not sure, I mean I can get things done and interact with people, but I get anxious very easily and cry out of nowhere a lot, sometimes I think I feel sad but I just wish I could get a break, the first I thought I was depressed was when I heard that Mac Miller song good news; it's like someone found the words I couldn't to describe how I feel; and that happens to me in everything I do, I use a lot of references people tell me to stop using them and start making my own speech and I'm like that's what I'm trying to do; must of the time I just believe people are afraid of my intensity and like to focus on the way I say things more than the things that I say.

I like the systemized nature of the emotion wheel, and their various flavors and intensities. However I don’t like all the categories. “Bad” emotions? There are no “bad” emotions. The app Mood Meter, to me, has a much better and tighter classification system with two variables and four quadrants: High or low energy, and pleasant or unpleasant emotions