How do you feel emotions?

[Fedayeen]

INTPs are always being described as being detached from their emotions. This is such a vague statement. What exactly does it mean? Do you feel the emotions, know they are there, but they don't directly effect you that much? After giving it a lot of thought that is what it sounds like being detached from emotions would be.

I don't feel that. I feel an emptiness. A void. Like there is nothing there at all. When my grandma had a heart attack then a week later died instead of feeling sadness I felt emptiness. Like there was something I should be feeling but don't. When I'm with this one girl I feel an emptiness where there should be something else. When my basketball team won the league tournament where I should feel happy I felt emptiness. Is this being an INTP or is this something else?

Being like this isn't constant. There are times where I feel happy, I laugh at just about anything in these moods and act very oddly. But it doesn't seem real seems....wrong somehow.

I enjoy the emptiness I simply seek understanding. Is this being an INTP or is this something else entirely.

 

[Death]

INTPs are always being described as being detached from their emotions. This is such a vague statement. What exactly does it mean? Do you feel the emotions, know they are there, but they don't directly effect you that much? After giving it a lot of thought that is what it sounds like being detached from emotions would be.

I don't feel that. I feel an emptiness. A void. Like there is nothing there at all. When my grandma had a heart attack then a week later died instead of feeling sadness I felt emptiness. Like there was something I should be feeling but don't. When I'm with this one girl I feel an emptiness where there should be something else. When my basketball team won the league tournament where I should feel happy I felt emptiness. Is this being an INTP or is this something else?

Being like this isn't constant. There are times where I feel happy, I laugh at just about anything in these moods and act very oddly. But it doesn't seem real seems....wrong somehow.

I enjoy the emptiness I simply seek understanding. Is this being an INTP or is this something else entirely.

I feel positive feelings,and try to overcome negative one with reason.I also don't like to show my emotions out in public,might be a T things.

 

[SafetyInNumbers]

I'm sure I feel all emotions, especially anger, I have great problems dealing with that one. I am sad now and have been for a while, I'm depressed, life seems to me to not be worth the effort. Losing one person you care about seems to negate all the positives life holds, who cares about all these wonderful things when the fact remains that you will lose everyone you have ever felt anything for and they will lose you. Feelings, they are there, I choose not to show them and I try not to let them effect me. I alter my behaviour to fit with the people I am around.

 

[Fedayeen]

I'm sure I feel all emotions, especially anger, I have great problems dealing with that one. I am sad now and have been for a while, I'm depressed, life seems to me to not be worth the effort. Losing one person you care about seems to negate all the positives life holds, who cares about all these wonderful things when the fact remains that you will lose everyone you have ever felt anything for and they will lose you. Feelings, they are there, I choose not to show them and I try not to let them effect me. I alter my behaviour to fit with the people I am around.

You reminded me of something else related to this. I don't generally get angry, but I do get frustrated when things don't fit together right (literally)

 

[Jordan~]

Well, I sometimes mention this research that was presented on the BBC's Horizon one time, on a program about free will vs. determinism. It was found that when making a decision (a simple game involving loss and gain), in some subjects, the area of the brain responsible for emotions would flare up strongly, and they'd decide based on that; while in others, it would flare up for a very brief moment before the frontal lobe became very active. The second group, I would say, are the Thinkers - an emotional response is felt, but ignored.

This is how it is for me, anyway. There are emotions below the surface, but I mostly ignore them - not through choice, that's just the way it happens. The three strongest ones are probably anger, sorrow, happiness and some sort of positive reaction to beauty, since they get through most often - it takes a lot to get me angry, but when I do get angry, I get very angry. When listening to music I love (like, properly listening, noticing the minutiae of the composition and the way everything highlights and accentuates everything else, and think about the lyrics and their layers of depth), there's a positive response which is more like wonder than happiness, usually strong enough to make me cry. Once or twice I've experienced it for a painting. Sorrow and anger tend to be in response to injustice, and happiness is just normal - but I don't really feel it if I'm not very happy. Particularly when I'm sad, I feel emotions more strongly. Things I can usually just ignore become important, it's like an emotional floodgate opens. Once in a while, a good cry is nice for emotional release.

 

[Fedayeen]

@Jordan
Thank you, that was exactly the type of response I was looking for. Very helpful.

 

[Chimera]

I'm not sure if I'm a good example of a typical INTP, because I've always had a rather strong link to my emotions, ever since I was little (I think I used to be ENFJ)
I remember as a kid I was ruled almost completely by my emotions. Little things could make me cry; I also had a very short temper. Often I would get into fights with my sisters, and I generally threw the first punch. But on the flip side, I also experienced extreme happiness, at which times I became blind to all suffering and thought of nothing but the sun and flowers.
As I am now, I feel the same emotions at a lesser degree. I don't like being taken over by those emotions, so I'm not. I still remember them quite well though, which is probably why I'm not made out of stone by now. Emotions aren't a bad thing; I used to think they were. But they guide my intuition, and I would almost bet my life on my intuition, so I have come to respect my emotions quite a bit. I have to let them out to play every now and then, otherwise they'll get fat and lazy.
Besides, other people are so easy to understand when you can evaluate their emotions and then apply your own logic. Instant understanding. ​

Maybe that didn't help very much, but I've never been good at that sort of thing. (:​

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[Thread Killer]

I remember when I was almost consumed with that inner void. It is a wholly unpleasant sensation. That was when I was so Five-ish and detached that I could barely function in most real life settings.

I react strongly to anger but most emotions don't really affect me. I am highly interested in emotions, though, and search for emotional undertones in fiction, music, etc which for a long time made me think I was an F type. My approach towards understanding and experiencing feelings, though, is a rationalized one as to be expected. I also feel myself to be rather emotional though it rarely comes across to people. I have to make a connscious effort to smile to let people know I'm fine. I can be quite affectionate and playful around people I trust and people who are more natural with their emotions provided they're not over-bearing about it.

I usually feel neutral, though, which usually results in a positive feeling, especially when I'm turning ideas in my head or when I'm doing something that engages my abilities and creativity.

 

[Jesin]

I think I used to be ENFJ

*looks around expectantly for Decaf*

 

[spockguy]

I used to feel complete void of emotion for a period of time as well... I was on a constant search of some serendipitous wakening out of my apathy. All felt empty, emotion was dead, and only came in very short bursts of extreme emotion. At random variables i would end up crying for 5 minutes straight over nearly nothing, and then go back to the way of ignoring my emotions. This, basically, is due to repression of your shadow trait; the inferior.

I come to realize through introspection and especially retrospection that I've become emotionally dull due to my assurance as to how to handle and confront them in the first place, in other words, I ignored all my emotional desires by blocking it with Intellectualization and Rationalization. I bottled up my emotions carelessly, consistently lying to myself about my emotional desires and wants. I can't think of any specific thing that helped me change at all, but it seems like I have developed more of a connection with my Si as I've grown, and that in turn seemed to help me see my bullshit in retrospect.

I try as much as possible now to express and reconize my emotions, try not to push them behind with stoic logic. I've learned to acknoledge that I am indeed quite emotional in many ways. My bursts of emotions have long ended, my emptiness has dissappaited, and I seem to generally appreciate and understand the emotions of others far more.

Honestly, from the INTP's I know(Myself included), it seems like Intellectualization is quite a common defense mechanism against emotions in general...

 

[spockguy]

In response to Chimera: I used to be the exact same way. To say you were a ENFJ though is pretty silly in my opinion, considering they would use their emotions in a mature way. INTP's and ISTP's can be very rough children due to their extremely immature Fe. As a kid I would whin and beg my parents to get me whatever I wanted, i woudl easily get pissed off and cry all the time from such minial things. I went from this into an emotionally dead (atleast I constantly percieved myself as such) teenager, thought life was quite meaningless; extremely anhedonic/dysthymic for a couple of years. I have no answers as to why I was like this, I'm just thankful that I grew out of both of these phases in my life, but I have much more room to improve, no doubt about that.

 

[Chimera]

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Jesin;;
Hmm? What about Decaf? ._.

Spockguy;;
That's the second time today someone's called me silly. I hope this isn't a sign...
Anyway. What exactly do you mean by "immature Fe"? I thought my Fe was at its peak when I was a kid, if that's where all my emotion spikes came from. I'd like to think that my Ti developed over time, not the other way around...
I do admit that your story sounds like mine. Although I went through the "emotionally dead" phase because of an external dilemma, and that passed within a few months.
This is weird, because now I have two images of my kid self in my head...the emotional, whiny bugger who said stupid things and couldn't survive outside the crowd...and the "mature" one, as the adults in my life called me, who questioned why she seemed to understand things so much better than her peers.
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[Kidege]

@Chimera: Decaf's the resident expert on typing. He's v. good at it.

On topic:

I remember the void very well. I liked it. I lived in it till the beginning of adulthood. Of course I had feelings, but I was unaware of them. You could ask me how I felt at any given time and I'd say "okay" without pausing to check because there didn't seem to be anything to check. It was like being a mind-in the-world, without background noise. Only very loud "noises" (like extreme anger) made it to my consciousness.

It usually took me a couple of years to realise how I'd been feeling. For instance, I had a major crush in junior high, and I didn't notice until I'd graduated, when someone pointed it out to me. Yes, I knew I acted oddly around the guy in question, but I could downplay it to the point where my closest friends never noticed. Two years later, while listening to a love song, I started talking about the guy. That's when someone commented I liked him and I finally admitted it to myself and realised the depth of the feelings.

Art seems to be very important to bring out our emotions. Several people have already pointed this out.

These days I do hear the background noises, but it's hard to tell them apart. Sometimes I feel uncomfortable and I spend days trying to figure out if I'm sad, angry, scared... It takes even longer to decide if the feeling has any validity. I keep a journal to help me do this. Actually I don't get immediate results, which can be quite frustrating. But now it doesn't take two years, only a couple of months.

Happiness I just take as it comes. Life's too short and feelings too damned complex not to enjoy the few pleasant background noises.

What I'd like to know is... how do you guys handle the "not feeling the proper emotions at proper times" thing? I.e: not feeling sad at funerals or happy at weddings, etc. (assuming we share this trait, that is)

 

[Artifice Orisit]

Does anyone else feel they have a dark tunnel in the back of their mind/skull; when I thinking deeply it seems like I'm retracting back into this tunnel/pit/void, sometimes to the point where my eyes are open but I'm not seeing anything. Emotional people talk about having a "happy place", but I'm most comfortable in the darkest recesses of my mind.

Emotionally I'm pretty cold, it's not that I am not surprising my emotions; I just have these "emotion.exe not found" moments. Seems some of you became INTPs, I was born one; so it's strange watching people express a wide range of complex emotions, hard to relate to.

Hence I find church boring,
I think Sporting events are an excuse for guys to hug each other,
Romantic movies consist entirely of bad acting,
angry people are just amusing,
and a past girlfriend of mine gave up on trying to be subtle,
she just told I was her boyfriend
(This was after a week of me wondering why she was always around; it’s a problem I know)

 

[spockguy]

@Chimera:
What I mean by immature Fe is that you use your emotions in a very improper way.
Time to get into psychological shit to attempt to explain this whole happening, be aware though, I'm pulling all this out of my ass:
My Fe seems to consist dominantly of my underdeveloped super-ego desires and associations (what society expects of me, how I'm supposed to act, etc). The super-ego (Si/Fe) is in constant conflict with our instinctive desires and wants (this is called the Id). Our ego(Ti/Ne), which is our most conscious of thoughts, attempts to balance the wants and desires with consideration of the super-ego (Si/Fe). Our super-ego (Si/Fe) is still highly underdeveloped as a child, therefore distinctions between what is proper and appropriate are distorted at this age. Because of this our ego(Ti/Ne), at a young age, expresses our desires and wants (Id) in a very emotional way (Fe), albeit immature. As our super-ego grows and our tertiary (Si) gets slightly more defined in its complimentary use with our ego(Ti/Ne), we come to realize that the Fe is a very improper way of expression in our desires, therefore it is highly repressed by the ego. This creates the "void" we all know and love.

I need to think more on this, see if the consistency works with other types as well... If so, then an ESFJ for an example, would express their desires and want for something using a very immature form of Ti as a child, and as they mature their Ne, they intuitively realize that the flimsy logical connections are futile and their Fe represses most desires using logical organization and connections as a teen.

Maybe this is the wrong topic to post this on, but oh well. Any thoughts from the community?

 

[loveofreason]

And maybe it's a phase of development that most children go through?

Isn't the theory that typing can't be accurately applied to children because they're still in development? There are distinct ages at which major neural pruning happens - just can't remember them off the top of my head. And a teen's brain is still in development too. Perhaps someone else has some more knowledge of the area.

As for emotions, I've rambled on a bit in some older threads. Discussed what feels to me like emotional latency - as Kidege describes above: not being aware of emotional states until well (sometimes years) after the fact. Then this retrospective examination can be fascinating - personal emotional archeology!

Oh look! An atrophied happiness receptor! No wonder I never realised those events were so joyous! It's only just sinking in through the accretions of stoney armour!

When emotions do break through what I experience is physical overwhelm. Emotions are very fleshy things - the body's physiological communication system, and I experience them as physical states. Very confusing, overpowering and demanding for the most part. I guess I'm more familiar with the 'unpleasant' ones like rage and grief. I don't trust joy - things go wrong when I'm happy.

I feel like there's this terrible external policeman that won't let me be happy. Self-replicating formative experience. Humph.

 

[Waterstiller]

I just have these "emotion.exe not found" moments.

Excellent description.

 

[Ermine]

INTPs are always being described as being detached from their emotions. This is such a vague statement. What exactly does it mean? Do you feel the emotions, know they are there, but they don't directly effect you that much? After giving it a lot of thought that is what it sounds like being detached from emotions would be.

.

Here's what detached means to me. Metaphorically speaking, there's a wall of glass between me and everyone else. When the emotional weather is wet with tears or any other manifestation of strong emotion, it makes my "glass" fog up, and I have an even harder time perceiving and understanding emotions, which is why I feel empty when surrounded by grief, profoundly confused when someone is crying on my shoulder, etc. This also applies to highly charged positive emotions. On the other hand, when I'm experiencing those highly charged emotions, the glass on my side fogs up and I have a hard time seeing and understanding what's on the other side of the glass. Half the time, either one or the other is happening, and I can't see very well.

The only common emotion I know and understand is frustration. Frustration from not understanding other emotions, frustration that I don't know something but should, etc. Pretty much the only reason I cry.

 

[Decaf]

*looks around expectantly for Decaf*

It seems like you guys are doing just fine Still, I can't resist the temptation, so when I get time tonight I'll pore over what's been said and add my 1.5 cents (the value of 2 cents in the United States after a few hours pass).

 

[Jesin]

I don't trust joy - things go wrong when I'm happy.

AAAH!

Oh noes! I've noticed that too! It hasn't gotten to the point that I don't trust joy (and I hope it never does), but...

When I'm in a happy mood for an extended period of time (usually anything over two days), part of me keeps saying, "Of course you know this is all going to come crashing down any day now."

 

[Jordan~]

Do you think the opposite when you're in a bad mood?

 

[Artifice Orisit]

When I'm in a happy mood for an extended period of time (usually anything over two days), part of me keeps saying, "Of course you know this is all going to come crashing down any day now."

The impending doom feeling, I know it well.

Is it common to collate good/bad events and use them as a guide to what the next event will be? I.e. only so much misfortune can realistically befall me today, thus the next thing to happen to me is likely to be good, and vice versa.

 

[Chimera]

Do you think the opposite when you're in a bad mood?

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I usually do. I think that's what keeps me going.
But realistically, I know that my bad moods last much longer than my good moods. So that sort of puts a damper on things.
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[Agent Intellect]

The impending doom feeling, I know it well.

Is it common to collate good/bad events and use them as a guide to what the next event will be? I.e. only so much misfortune can realistically befall me today, thus the next thing to happen to me is likely to be good, and vice versa.

haha, i thought i was the only one. the universe has to balance itself out, right?

 

[NoID10ts]

The guy that gave me the Mbti said that INTP's tend to extrapolate the worst out of things. He jokes that we get to a place where we think all hope is lost and we might as well go eat dirt. I must admit I get to that point from time to time, although I have ever eaten dirt (willingly at least).

I have always felt this dark streak within me that I have never been able to define clearly. Do any others feel this way? Are we the Yin to some other personalities Yang?

 

[Waterstiller]

Last night I was actually joyous. I couldn't stop smiling for the entire drive home. It felt a bit alien, but it was nice. I wouldn't say that I'm afraid that it'll all come crashing down when experiencing joy.. but usually for some reason I tend to unravel it by thinking about it too much. I'll analyze the feeling, figure out the reason for it, and then remember the reasons won't last. From there it starts to fade out. The longer this process takes, the more I trust the joy, and the harder I fall.

 

[Inappropriate Behavior]

The guy that gave me the Mbti said that INTP's tend to extrapolate the worst out of things. He jokes that we get to a place where we think all hope is lost and we might as well go eat dirt. I must admit I get to that point from time to time, although I have ever eaten dirt (willingly at least).

I have always felt this dark streak within me that I have never been able to define clearly. Do any others feel this way? Are we the Yin to some other personalities Yang?

Sometimes I think I am a walking dark streak. Often thinking about how much better off the Earth would be without humans. I tend to listen to songs that reinforce such gloomy ideas. Other times I feel unreasonably optimistic about everything and I don't trust the feeling. I just know that something is going to happen to screw it all up.

 

[Fedayeen]

Last night I realized I don't have fear. Not illogical fear at least. Fear from scary movies/games, or even a real life version of that. To test it I went for a walk in my backyard in the dead of night. (My backyard is 5 acres of untamed wilderness) I basically went for a walk through a forest with only the moonlight to see. Nothing. I just thought the chances of something coming out was unlikely.

I still have logical fears though. The biggest one being fear of heights.

 

[Kidege]

I'm adopting the "personal emotional archeology" term.

I also get the impending doom all the time. That's why I keep the diary. Someday I'll know the patterns well enough to stay calm.

 

[Fedayeen]

I'm adopting the "personal emotional archeology" term.

Please elaborate

 

[Reverse Transcriptase]

The guy that gave me the Mbti said that INTP's tend to extrapolate the worst out of things. He jokes that we get to a place where we think all hope is lost and we might as well go eat dirt. I must admit I get to that point from time to time, although I have ever eaten dirt (willingly at least).

I have always felt this dark streak within me that I have never been able to define clearly. Do any others feel this way? Are we the Yin to some other personalities Yang?

Om nom nom dirt.

It's very interesting that so many people have mentioned dark streaks. You guys should read the wiki page about Byronic Heroes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byronic_hero

This "dark streak" we have is probably deserving of it's own thread...

I'm adopting the "personal emotional archeology" term.

I think I know what you mean by "personal emotional archeology". I've been spending time trying to remember my childhood... after some thinking I've remembered (or created??) some pretty vivid memories.

 

[Kidege]

Please elaborate

I'm borrowing it from Lor. She described how she gets her own feelings much later. I do the same. It's all in this thread.

 

[Agent Intellect]

Last night I was actually joyous. I couldn't stop smiling for the entire drive home. It felt a bit alien, but it was nice. I wouldn't say that I'm afraid that it'll all come crashing down when experiencing joy.. but usually for some reason I tend to unravel it by thinking about it too much. I'll analyze the feeling, figure out the reason for it, and then remember the reasons won't last. From there it starts to fade out. The longer this process takes, the more I trust the joy, and the harder I fall.

i get the same thing. i also end up thinking a lot, during a time of happiness: "you know this isn't going to last forever, right? you'll be back to the same old shit sooner or later".

Last night I realized I don't have fear. Not illogical fear at least. Fear from scary movies/games, or even a real life version of that. To test it I went for a walk in my backyard in the dead of night. (My backyard is 5 acres of untamed wilderness) I basically went for a walk through a forest with only the moonlight to see. Nothing. I just thought the chances of something coming out was unlikely.

i might just have an overactive imagination, but i can think myself into being scared of nothing quite easily. usually of somebody following me. although, in my neighborhood that might actually be a legitimate thing to be afraid of, but i end up scaring myself into thinking i am when i know i'm not.

 

[Fedayeen]

I'm borrowing it from Lor. She described how she gets her own feelings much later. I do the same. It's all in this thread.

I meant personal emotional archeology

 

[Kidege]

I'm sorry, I don't get it. What is it you want me to do?

Cause the term's been defined, and my first post in the thread could serve as an example.

 

[kaririloto]

INTPs are always being described as being detached from their emotions. This is such a vague statement. What exactly does it mean? Do you feel the emotions, know they are there, but they don't directly effect you that much? After giving it a lot of thought that is what it sounds like being detached from emotions would be.

I don't feel that. I feel an emptiness. A void. Like there is nothing there at all. When my grandma had a heart attack then a week later died instead of feeling sadness I felt emptiness. Like there was something I should be feeling but don't. When I'm with this one girl I feel an emptiness where there should be something else. When my basketball team won the league tournament where I should feel happy I felt emptiness. Is this being an INTP or is this something else?

Being like this isn't constant. There are times where I feel happy, I laugh at just about anything in these moods and act very oddly. But it doesn't seem real seems....wrong somehow.

I enjoy the emptiness I simply seek understanding. Is this being an INTP or is this something else entirely.

I feel exactly the same way. However, it's not an emptiness; I see it as a blessing. It's a constant, hollow,...warm feeling for me. It's like my brain is analyzing and feeling the emotion, but my body chooses not to respond. I just always feel warm and emotionless, with a very few exceptions. ^_^ You're not alone.

 

[Fedayeen]

I feel exactly the same way. However, it's not an emptiness; I see it as a blessing. It's a constant, hollow,...warm feeling for me. It's like my brain is analyzing and feeling the emotion, but my body chooses not to respond. I just always feel warm and emotionless, with a very few exceptions. ^_^ You're not alone.

When I described it as an emptiness I didn't mean I didn't like it. just that it's what it feels like. It may have a negative connotation, but I don't consider it negative.

 

[Gorgrim]

AAAH!

Oh noes! I've noticed that too! It hasn't gotten to the point that I don't trust joy (and I hope it never does), but...

When I'm in a happy mood for an extended period of time (usually anything over two days), part of me keeps saying, "Of course you know this is all going to come crashing down any day now."

Same here. Eventually im wondering why im still happy, and suddenly its kinda worn off..

 

[Waterstiller]

I stumbled upon this today and thought it was really interesting.

www.emotionallyvague.com

Especially question 2 (the page stumbleupon dropped me off at).

 

[Spud147]

I've got to say I'm finding a lot of comfort knowing that my life long feeling of not "fitting in" is because #1... I truly am weird (less than 1% of the population and #2 I've found my fellow weirdos and I didn't know they existed until now.

Anyway, emotions, I was described as "stoic" as early as grade school. I'm not sure I'm completely detached from my emotions, I need to analyze everything before I decide how I feel about it and then I react. Sometimes it takes hours, sometimes days, before I connect with how I really feel. I also have a dark side and will withdraw so much I think my vision is affected by it... It's like I'm looking through a tunnel and then out my eyes. At those times my conscious knows I'm in my body and sort of sees my surroundings but it's like an out of body experience and my interaction almost feels like I'm actually just observing rather than participating in things eventhough I may be talking at the time.

I'm actually very easy going and usually wake up in a decent mood. I'm really uncomfortable around people who do have strong emotions, it's just makes my head spin and I don't know how to react. It's not easy to make me mad but when I am (usually when I perceive the situation as unfair) it get furious and obsessive about it. I almost never cry unless it's out of frustration.

Like some of the other posters I am very moved by art. Music, beautiful literature, beautiful paintings, etc. can bring a lot of emotion to the surface and make me cry as well. I am totally content when I'm in the middle of an art project and have no distractions around me.​

 

[Ms Independent]

This is very facinating! I understand all of this, the voids, the overwhelming emotional reactions, the obsessive tendancies. I actually was just thinking about this on my way to work this morning. I was thinking how irrationally emotional I can be, yet I've built a very thick and sturdy wall. It's almost impenetrable. But I do feel! I feel things so strongly that my wall is my mechanism. I dislike emotion. I prefer the tranquil void. I am a master of disguise, and one would think I'm made of pure ice, stone, whatever is cold, hard and empty.

When I do feel anything, I think people should know. And I tend to steamroll them with my emotional outbursts. Let me just say though, that emotional intelligence has to reign thus this has really only happened on a few occasions. But it's a rough go for anyone in my way. What does that say?

I don't usually feel elated (although reading about my peers here is really making me feel connected- maybe not happy, but connected- so it feels positive), and I don't usually feel sad or depressed. I do experience hard anger. I've also been taught my whole life that anger should be suppressed. I deal well with anger (unless I go into "steam-role-mode") but it's very strong. Death is inevitable, so I don't feel sorrow, and I believe in co-existance, not love, so I can cancel that out. On the other hand, I do have children so I must love more deeply than I realize. They are actually the only ones I truly can love.

Lastly, fear. I have no fear. I've been challenged and victorious. Do not confuse fear with eating bugs and hanging 250 ft in the air in a car over a waterfall- that is just stupidity. But fear of the boogy men, people jumping out of nowhere to scare you, fear of being attacked by a random, walking at night on skid row, death, heights, small spaces, etc- I could go on. But the paranormal- THAT scares me! Ghosts, bumps, moans, orbs, odors, tempterature changes, feelings of a presence. Logic would say these phenomena don't exist. Experience them for yourself. Try to talk yourself down from the emotional ledge and make logic out of an experience like that.

And voids. Voids are my way of pushing all of that deep, deep inside me, so the strength of the emotion cannot be seen by anyone. Add to that a comforting state of denial, and that is my happy place.

 

[Fedayeen]

Lastly, fear. I have no fear. I've been challenged and victorious. Do not confuse fear with eating bugs and hanging 250 ft in the air in a car over a waterfall- that is just stupidity. But fear of the boogy men, people jumping out of nowhere to scare you, fear of being attacked by a random, walking at night on skid row, death, heights, small spaces, etc- I could go on. But the paranormal- THAT scares me! Ghosts, bumps, moans, orbs, odors, tempterature changes, feelings of a presence. Logic would say these phenomena don't exist. Experience them for yourself. Try to talk yourself down from the emotional ledge and make logic out of an experience like that.

For me its similar. I have logical fear such as heights or other such things, but not emotional fear. Things like walking in my backyard (which is pure untamed wilderness, a forest practically) with nothing but the moonlight. or things jumping out at me. none of that scares me. In fact something rather amusing happened to me the other day. My grandma sent me an email saying to check this out and a link. I clicked the link and it looked like flash version of tic tac toe. except after you make a couple moves it changes to something else thats meant to scare you. when that happened I just looked at it thought "damn, it's not actually tic tac toe" and closed the window. didn't even startle me in the slightest. Which made me slightly disappointed. Now partly because of that, and also because dead space didn't scare me at all I am looking for a scary game to play that can actually scare me.

 

[sagewolf]

The Void I can understand completely. A couple years I was, logically (of course) worried about it, wondering if there was something wrong with me because I didn't feel things at all, and wondering if I was going to grow up and be a murderer or a criminal because i had no emotional connection to the rest of humanity. I grew out of that. Slowly.

I still have the void sometimes, but what i mostly have is a careless sort of ambivalence. It's an All Is Well feeling which means I have no strong feelings welling up inside. Because strong feelings are Bad. My main strong feelings are joy, anger, despair, and abject misery. I greatly prefer the All Is Well feeling. If I'm mad I rant about things to myself in my bedroom, if I'm despairing, I can't motivate myself to do anything, if I'm sad I cry (this only lasts two hours, at the most) and if I'm happy, I become really hyper and start talking to people. When I'm happy I also write or draw a lot and have a lot of energy: I feel like I don't need to sleep. (I actually don't, too.)

A lot of the time I know what my emotions are, but I can't tell anyone else. If anyone asks how I am, I'm always 'okay' even though I think 'crap' or 'great'. I have a real problem with expressing my emotions to others, but I feel them just fine.

When they're there. Usually, they aren't.

 

[Fordy]

How do I feel emotions?

I'm not entirely sure. I think relating to Jordans post on the first page, I tend to get slight flairs of emotion, before my brain kicks in and starts to think logically. That slight flair doesn't consume me (except for extreme cases, such as a close relative dieing) but it effects the way I think of things. I'll try and understand the emotions I'm feeling, but sometimes I'm just left with 'the void'.

I can feel only the void at some highly inappropriate times. Sometimes people get so consumed with emotion it startles me, and I'm taken aback, and can't begin to comprehend why they're (in my eyes) over-reacting. Other times though, the void is there because I just plain don't care about a situation. Emotions can't be forced, they just occur (and occur differently for everyone) and it's how we deal with them that makes us who we are.

 

[Fedayeen]

The Void I can understand completely. A couple years I was, logically (of course) worried about it, wondering if there was something wrong with me because I didn't feel things at all, and wondering if I was going to grow up and be a murderer or a criminal because i had no emotional connection to the rest of humanity. I grew out of that. Slowly.

Kind of reminds me of Dexter. The TV show on USA channel (I think). He talks about an emptiness. and he is a serial killer.

 

[INTPINFP]

I used to be afraid to be happy because my happiness will be stripped away from me

most of the time though i feel like am a generic human with no purpose and it doesnt matter if i am happy or sad but i should be killed to save on overpopulation or the only one allowed to be saved on from a cataclysm (its inconsistent with me)

right now i feel 10% angry and sad but mostly i have no idea what to think or what to do and i dont care about my opinion on life

 

[Pixie]

(I'll describe my emotions how I experience them when I'm alone, then in the next post I'll describe how it is when I'm around people.)
It's not that I'm devoid of emotion, but rather the emotion that is there is usually very stable and mild. Contentment is my most common emotion. I like to keep my emotional side low-key so I can focus more on my thoughts.
Occasionally I have quick bursts of strong emotion which tends to be either sadness, anger, loud excitement or quiet euphoria. Though strong emotions can interrupt logical thought patterns, I still try to appreciate the change and just go with it. But I associate strong emotions with lack of control, so if it lasts too long I start to go nutty without that self-control.
The sense of wonder that Jordan mentioned in reaction to beauty, I get that a lot too. I'd probably put it in the category of my "quiet euphoria". Mostly towards music, nature, and good films.

I don't express emotions well and usually give off the wrong impression. One morning last week or so I was 'off with the fairys' and extremely happy, and mum thought I was depressed. It's like I was so deep inside my own head that I couldn't muster the effort to reach out and express it externally. Does anyone else here have trouble displaying appropriate facial expressions? People tend to say things to me like "What's wrong?" "Cheer up!" even when I'm perfectly content.

 

[Pixie]

I think I'm less-stable emotionally when I'm with other people, especially the over-emotional kind. It's like they're little troublemaker kids running through someone's house knocking everything over and generally being a bull in a china shop. They interrupt the balance and it's annoying. I will compare our emotions and if they differ, I start to wonder "who's in the wrong" and that maybe if we're in the same situation then I should be experiencing the same emotion or the same level of emotion as them.
My great-grandmother's funeral was a very awkward experience. I didn't really "get it" and I wasn't feeling sad. I remember I kept telling myself that crying at a funeral was an adult thing and that it's okay because I'm a kid (I was ten or eleven at the time). I was sitting in the front row all of adults and I couldn't see any of the other kids, but I eventually turned around and saw all my cousins crying, even the ones younger than me. That was weird.
I'd say my most common emotion in the presence of people is frustration and confusion.

 

[Sylzarra]

Last night I realized I don't have fear. Not illogical fear at least. Fear from scary movies/games, or even a real life version of that. To test it I went for a walk in my backyard in the dead of night. (My backyard is 5 acres of untamed wilderness) I basically went for a walk through a forest with only the moonlight to see. Nothing. I just thought the chances of something coming out was unlikely.

I still have logical fears though. The biggest one being fear of heights.

I agree with you as well. I have no illogical fears. The only one I had was my fear of spiders because of this childhood incident. How ever a yeas ago when i started contemplating the idea of fear I realized that my arachnophobia was irrational and quickly convinced myself to stop.. This is why scary movies can't really effect me unless they have a logical scientific possibility of coming true. For example "The Ring" never scared me because the idea that a ghost would haunt a videotape and kill anyone who watched it after 7 days is silly and scientifically impossible. However "Signs" scared me horribly because scientifically the possibility of other intelligent life on other planets is very high. I am actually convinced that other life exists. In addition I am no optimist to believe that it will be a peaceful species. So because the scenario in Signs is possible it has the power to scare me. Of course I quickly convince my self that there is no point in worrying because there's nothing I could do about it anyways.
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Does anyone else feel as if their emotions are not exactly real? For example when i get mad or sad i can usually sit down and distract myself pretty easily and make the feeling go away. Anything that is so easily changed cannot possible be real can it?

 

[Jennywocky]

Actually, I'm very sensitive to feeling fear (and I have a few weird ones -- like psychotically afraid of spiders... although at the same time they fascinate me).

Sometimes at night I can be alone outside in the dark and feel at one with the world, other times I'll suddenly feel overwhelmed by terror (not of anyone in particular) and want to run for a safe place; it depends on my mood at the time.

A lot of my fears ARE rational. I'm very good at seeing potential dangers. I don't tend to worry about illegitimate dangers at all, but if I look at something and logically see something I cannot control and where the threat might be real, it's something I become concerned about.

I realize that socially I have had (and still have) a lot of anxiety at times -- which basically is the perception of danger, at least emotionally if not physically. I've had bouts of just sitting in a car and feeling terrified to go inside a store, but I have always forced myself to go about my life. I can very terrified, but I'll never show it. People are surprised when I tell them how afraid I was of something; outwardly, I'll act just the same as if I am not scared at all. I didn't realize I had courage until some other people told me that I did, because to me it was just a matter of living my life: If you cater to the fear, you really limit yourself and it makes no sense to live a half-life.

Comments about Signs and The Ring are funny, I had the exact opposite response. Signs was just so laughable (it wasn't done well, to me) so I never found it convincing; it was like a cheap 50's monster movie. The Ring had far more freak-out ambiance, it created an aura of fear; and the scenes with the girl climbing out of the well made her move in such an inhuman way that I was completely unsettled by it, and the scene near the end when she "blips" across the room to accost Noah just about made me fall out of my seat, eeep.

I was creeped out by some of the scenes in The Grudge (remake) too, despite it being cheesy in some ways. The whole elevator scene with the boy appearing closer and closer to the window was just horrific. I also love Alien and similar movies. I think the key here is "ambiance." The whole tone is set to "creepy" and so whatever happens in that context is frightening if you cannot get a mental handle on it.

EDIT: About feeling fear, physically, too. I just have to say that when I was young I was not in control or safe at all in my family, and I learned to hide my fear and physically swallow it. I feel an inner terror/vertigo over things, but I would steady my breathing, get my body to relax, and even if that inner core was terrified, my physical body would look little different. My whole focus was to remove the appearance of fear and not let it affect me, because that would have made me feel even more vulnerable. Even now, that really does help even if I think it wasn't a great way to deal with fear; I'm capable of being very afraid, yet still function very well and rationally.