Struggling to Recognize Emotions: Seeking Advice

Is it bad that no matter how long I continue on my journey I still can't recognize emotions? for context I had a very long stretch of time (9 years) where I pretty much did nothing but disassociate, and I was heavily abused ever since I was born 😅. (My grandma remembers the things I don't from when I was an infant but I still have triggers from then that still work) but I just can't recognize emotions anymore, not others no I'm very good at analyzing people to try and find out. But for example fear can be mistaken as excitement anger or happiness in my head. which means that I accidentally put myself in situations that are potentially dangerous or make me uncomfortable because I miss read my emotions. is there any way to help distinguish them?

Your answer

ina

2y ago

yeah you usually learn to suppress emotions when you're young, hurt, and don't talk about it. and society doesn't ever talk about sadness, we always say "good" when people ask "how are you" even if you're having a bad day. to unsuppress, recognize that you're feeling emotional by physical sensations - pit in your stomach, chest tightness - try to find the emotional equivalent with umbrella terms like stressed, frustrated, anxious. then get more specific, like shame, hopelessness, grief, regret. knowing your emotions allow you to fix them more easily.

Evilwerewolves2

2y ago

thankyou!

Kuro

2y ago

I completely misread your entire post so I'm commenting again sorry! It's completely normal to have trouble recognising your emotions though. Therapy is a good option for learning strategies. If you don't have access/don't want to go to therapy, you can try mindfulness exercises like meditation and journalling (journalling is my personal favourite!) Sometimes writing things down can be a good way to figure out what's really going on in your head. Good luck on your journey! I'm sorry you're going through all of this.

Evilwerewolves2

2y ago

I've been in therapy since I was 4 years old and the therapists have never been able to help no matter how much I describe it, it could be because the therapists suck in my area though. But thankyou!

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