Does anyone have similar experiences of feeling flat emotionally? Withdrawn in relationship? Does this sound to you like a control thing? Am I simply controlling? I know that she finds it disturbing when I am unresponsive; my mother in law finds it worrying too when I get quiet - she worries I'm not happy.

I do take my time to adjust to people, and I can run away from group situations. But I don't find anything so super wrong with this. But just want to be able to stop myself retracting internally (loss of vitality) & would like to understand what goes on perhaps between the feeling of stress and the instinct to clam up & just go through the external motions.