what is the best way to rid yourself of emotions?

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Watch lots of Star Trek and learn the Vulcan way.

@tenzinsmom: Why is the character in your avatar walking her cauldron widdershins?

Sometimes I feel the same as you are now, wanting not to feel much of anything. Not that it's the best way to drown emotion, but lots of alcohol all at once worked for me. Fell asleep, but I don't remember anything after that.

I've also tried meditation. Didn't work long for me, but you might want to give it a shot - seems like many other posters have had success through meditation.

Well yeah I know meditation would help with that, I am not very good at it though but more practice would probably help.

I already sometimes use alcohol and other things for that purpose but yeah it usually does not work out too well.

But yeah I suppose I cannot expect for my emotions to dissapear unless I aqquire brain damage in the right areas but I don't think I would enjoy that.

I have been recommended by my therapist meditation (like many others have said) as well as ACT therapy, which is based on Buddhism. If you google it several self help books will pop up. I spend so much time either not knowing what I am feeling (if anything) to feeling like the end of the world must be imminent over something that later I recognize was a minute incident. Most things that I meltdown over tend to be fueled by anxiety. My therapist said that I spend too much time trying to keep control over my emotions using rational when that sort of thing won't work with emotions. I don't know any other way, as that's how my brain does everything. So, I'm trying Mindfulness and it's working so far! I hope you find a method that works for you.

Lobotomy perhaps.(Just kidding)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ssoBUb2cJk[/youtube]

On a serious note. Alcohol is the worst thing you can use to numb your emotions. It could make you do something stupid like suicide.

Kind of in line with AspieWolf's suggestion, learn to recognize your emotions for what they are, and learn that they really stem from your *perception* of reality rather than from a complete or objective view of reality itself. This is most true with negative emotions regarding others and society as a whole and your relation to them.

Once you see emotions for what they are, how they are caused, etc., you will be in a better position to control them and limit them with regards to how they directly affect or cause your actions.

If you find negative emotions determining or driving courses of action, in many or most cases, it probably is not a course of action you *should* be taking. This includes conscious or subconscious means of trying to dull or avoid them.

Identify and try to evaluate as objectively as possible the causes for your negative emotions, and try to find a way to do this. If you don't know how to do it yourself, that is fine - just seek help in doing it.

Also, realize that emotions are symptoms rather than causes. Don't just deal with the symptoms, ie trying to numb them, pretend you don't have them, escape from them, etc.

Help in the form of therapy, counseling, and perhaps even medication (notice I left out "self-medication") may be ways to help identify (or simply confirm what you already know), ie that you may have larger underlying neurological or chemical imbalances that make it harder to control or step back from your emotions at any given point in time.

But I really think a good deal could be accomplished by simply learning what emotions are, how much credence you should lend to them, how much you should let them play a determining role in your actions and decisions, etc.

Self flagellation whenever you feel an emotion.

Pundits used to gouge out their eyes and ears to prevent sin

Go for a long walk. That helps me when I'm feeling moody. If you don't want to go on your own, get a close relative to go with you. I go for long walks with my mum, and sometimes I find it the right time and place to talk over all my anxieties and stresses with her, and we then discuss any possible solutions.
Obviously that doesn't apply to everyone, since we all got different family circumstances. That is just one suggestion. I can't think of anything else.

I learned to deal with emotions from Thich Nhat Hanhs book 'True Love.'

Emotions - especially negative ones like sadness or anger - should be welcomed rather than shunned. He describes it as a friend knocking on the door. Do you ignore them? Do you send them away? No - you welcome them in, treat them with courtesy, and recognize that they will pass. Its a matter of letting emotions exist without feeling that they are synonymous with who you are. We all feel emotions, but they are an artifact of being human. If you are hungry, you eat. If you are sad, don't resist being sad.

This has led to much greater emotional control for me (though I am still highly emotional) because I treat myself with a compassion that no one else can give.

I tried to get rid of my emotions starting around three years ago by simply ignoring them, and it was a challenge throughout those years. Getting rid of emotions like happiness and sadness was pretty straightforward, love was kinda tricky, and anger was nearly impossible. Around last year I got rid of them for the most part, but there were drawbacks. For one, it was nearly impossible to make decisions. A few months ago the emotional switch got turned back into the on position for unknown reasons. There are still drawbacks to suppressing emotions when they return. I have become so desensitized that I can experience emotion, but not express it.

I have always been a proponent of the theory that "emotions are illogical". Emotions are an illogical headache at times and they are nearly impossible to get rid of. You can try to get rid of them, but its more trouble than its worth. When emotions return, they return with force, tread lightly.

Yesterday, I thought it would be a good idea to practice mental toughness at work and play the part of the leader. Although I thought I looked perfectly normal, my face gave it away. My boss caught me in the act of wearing the mask of the strong, silent type. The truth came out when we were taking a break at McDonald's. I told him about what happened between the supervisor and I two weeks ago, Saturday when I was chastized by the supervisor for crying in the restroom. My face softened up right away and I felt like myself again.