Friday, December 12, 2008

Feelings: Can Someone Please Help Me Out?

I've talked about this before so please bear with me: I do not understand how much is actually, physically felt. I had a thought that contained the phrase 'I feel' when I realised (yet again) that I did not feel anything... it was just a thought, something I knew but there was no actual feeling attached to it. And so I am asking: would someone tell me their own experience please? Does it happen as often as I think ('it' being actually feeling a feeling)? Or is my experience actually normal (I have been told or at least lead to believe on numerous occasions that it is not)? Is most of what we talk about as feeling actually just knowledge of something? Or is it once again the fact that I am too analytical?

I just want to know. I know this is not the type of blog I normally write but no one will tell me...

3 comments:

jellyphish said...

Which brings us back to... do you think before you feel, or do you feel before you think?

I do feel disconnected as well. I know exactly what you mean.

It's like, just because you know you should be feeling something, so does it contribute to you actually feeling it. Or am I wrong?

Anyway, I do feel it. When I'm hurting emotionally, my chest really closes up. I try not to think about it. I tell myself it's okay but my chest still closes up and I feel that feeling at the back of your throat when you know the tears are going to come.

But strangely, I don't really 'feel' it either. I feel it physically but I deem it as parasympathetic reaction.

Yeh, that's my opinion (:

Hannah said...

For me at least, I think it is knowledge of how I am feeling, rather than being aware of what I am feeling - hope that makes sense.

I'm not sure if that is unusual or just me though. I feel disconnected from my feelings, like jellyphish said, it's as if I don't feel, rather I understand how I should feel and think on from there.

Hope you figure things out. It is very complicated - the whole physical feeling idea.

I'm Just Me said...

I have a dissociative disorder, so I am very often disconnected with my feelings. My therapist will tell me I talk about something traumatic no different than I if I were to have gone to a movie the day before and were describing it. Putting feelings in actually feelings instead of thoughts is a hard thing to do for me.

I tend to feel separate from myself more often than not.

My therapist told me to do something each time, which is to start using my 5 senses and try to put a label on what I smell, what I hear, what I taste, what I feel, what I see, and once I've mastered those skills, I can hopefully start learning to feel.