Understanding emotions???

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My husband, a drug and alcohol therapist and I have been arguing for years about emotions. He says, and he is probably right (therapist guy and all) that there are a lot of different emotions. However, I swear I only feel happy, sad, angry, scared, anxious, and frustrated. In addition, the emotion has to be strong for me to recognize it as such. Does any one else have problems recognizing emotions and/or feeling the subtler forms of emotions? Or is it just me? In addition, if I look at a list of emotions, like the ones from the link below, I swear that most of them are thoughts and not emotions. Most of the time, I don't have an emotional connection to these so called emotions at all. Please let me know if anyone else feels this way or not or am I just alone.

http://www.self-improvement-mentor.com/ ... tions.html

I know where you're coming from, Waddie.

Thinking about an emotion, by the way, tends to lessen the effect it has. If you analyze an emotion too much, you'll lessen the effect it has, I think...

Maybe try listening to different styles of music and describe how they make you feel? From ANGRY ----> gentle. Make notes?

I cannot relate to many on that list at all, I mean, how on earth is 'glamorous' an emotion?
I tend to recognise, if strong, anxiety, anger, sadness, excitement, happiness, jealousy and frustration in myself.
I dont tend to recognise anything else. Most of the time, if I stop and wonder what I am feeling, I cannot identify much of anything unless it is a physical thing like tiredness or hunger.

The most difficult emotion related issue for me, is that I find it really hard to comprehend others having emotions and being able to take that into account.

In myself I can recognise happy, sad, angry, relieved and excited. I have problems recognising when I'm getting anxious, frustrated or anything else. After the feeling's gone and I've had time to analyse the situation that caused the emotion I'll be able to recognise it but not while I'm actually feeling it. My mum and friends will sometimes know when I'm feeling something even before I do. It helps them to get me out of situations where I could potentially end up having a meltdown but when I'm on my own I can't avoid these situations because my feelings kind of sneak up on me. Some of the emotions on that list I don't process as emotions, to me they occur more as thoughts.

I too was pretty confused when I was told that there are more than four emotions! Generally speaking, I can usually only detect happy, sad, angry and frustrated. Apparently there are hundreds of emotions and I have only found 4! Personally I think these other 'emotions' are just sub-emotions so in other words they stem from happy sad and angry. Thats my opinion anyway!

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I have HFA, ADHD, OCD & Tourette syndrome. I love animals, especially my bunnies and hamster. I skate in a roller derby team (but I'll try not to bite )

Thanks, guys. That makes me feel better.

And how is glamorous an emotion?

Glam is not an emotion...it's a delusion I analyze my feeling instinctively. I don't really feel feelings cause I can shoo them away if need be. They do tend to be pesky! I feel hurt sometimes, other times giddy..that's about it

Rationality and intellect are two things I never leave home (or bed for that matter) without!

My emotions: fear, anger, happiness, sadness- that's it. Maybe tired as well? Everything links to one of these four. Tears come with all of them.

I know the words on the list, but can't say I've ever felt any of them.

I only have so many identifiable emotions. Happy, enraged (common one) sad, scared, embarrassed etc.

I have other ones but I find them hard to narrow down to a word or phrase.

And no, glamorous is not an emotion. If you're feeling 'glamorous' that probably means you're feeling confident.

I had that conversation lots of times with my psychologist. I find hard to tell what I'm feeling sometimes. Strong or simple things I can handle, but then, more complex emotions I'm only just now trying to analyze what they are. I think I have the whole spectrum of emotions, but at times they get so complex and mixed up, that I just can't tell. I always felt that it was some sort of thing wrong with me about not really bring able to identify emotions, because is easier to let them show in my behaviour, than trying to name them.

Sometimes I'm not really feeling anything, if that makes any sense. Sometimes, like in a social situation where I'm not expected to constantly be performing, I'm just observing and taking things in. I feel like guys in stereotypical movies in that way when the girlfriend says "how are you feeling or whatever are you thinking?" and I'm just concentrating on what I'm watching.

Sometimes after I get really upset I have a blank feeling. It's like I can't handle it all so I just shutdown with a vague feeling of disappointment.

Right now, I could careless.