Emotion and autistic psyche

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Something I've been meaning to post for a while, but never really got around to it.

On the Jane Pauley autism special which aired on Friday October 1st, 2004, one of the guests on the show was Dr. Dawn Prince-Hughes, herself autistic.

One thing she said which really resonated with me was the fact the emotions she feels don't become part of her psyche. When she thinks of an event, she re-lives the emotions that went along with it.

I am similar in this way. Events in my life that were really tough on me, especially those that got me angry seem to take forever to become part of my psyche. I can think back on things that happened ten years ago and I'll get just as mad now as I did then. Not that my emotions have always been a bit screwy, for example one time when I was 11 (7/91) I was watching a WB cartoon on TV about 5:20pm in the afternoon when I started cry because of the plot line, it was a stupid cartoon too.

But it just seems that NT people get over really quickly the things that one should get over quickly whereas I don't while I get over things qiuckly that NT people would have a hard time getting over.

Does any of what I write ring a bell with anyone?

I thought everybody was like that.

Depends how recent it is. Most past events are viewed quite dispassionately and disconnected. Like they happened to someone else. I find it impossible to dwell on the past, intellectually or emotionally, only in the present.
Getting over an emotional event depends on the person, I think. I don't think that means, though, that they don't feel the same emotion when they remember an emotional event. I've always thought they'd like, for example, feel sad over again when thinking of someone dying; or angry over some wrong someone did. I know my brothers get angry over past events quite easily.

Last edited by danlo on 31 May 2005, 9:03 am, edited 1 time in total.

so did I

And so did I...

same with me.

Same here.

et moi

Its sounds very very familiar....

does anyone else have this with future events, when you think about something that is going to happen you feel the way you think you will in that situation?

No: if I start thinking about a future event I may suppose I will feel angry, anxious, happy or whatever but in fact the process of thinking about it cools me down and I feel nothing when the event happens. I like that (feeling nothing).