Emotional Compartmentalization

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I'll try to keep this succinct, but that's not my strong suit, so bear with me.

Anyhow, ever since I was 15 or so, I noticed that I had this tendency to split myself in pieces, seemingly beyond the norm. For instance, maybe I'd be in my room bawling my eyes out over a love interest, and when I went outside and talked to my parents, I'd automatically "switch" mindsets so my love issues were in this far away, detached space. To the point that even if the topic came up, I wouldn't really feel an emotional response to it. And I'd get this vague sense of "I should be on the verge of tears right now, but I'm not." It kind of keeps me from dealing with my really severe emotional issues...it's like I stuff them away so I don't have to deal with them, and then I can't deal with them.

Is this related to Asperger's at all, or is it just a personal trait of mine? Regardless, any advice on dealing with it?

Hmm, since many NTs have described their own experiences of emotional compartmentalization in their blogs, I think that this trait is a trait universal to all humans, even though some people tend to experience this more frequently than other people.

It might be a protective reflex, I've had similar stuff before.

I developed this as a skill for survival while being severely abused in the past.