Ok I know I'm posting like crazy on this thread. Sorry to ethersvirtue if you're sick of hearing from me! lol

I agree with SeptemberMorn that you shouldn't force your feelings down. But feelings may not accessible to you, even if you aren't trying to force them down. My point wasn't that you should suppress, it was that you shouldn't try to force things (and that goes either way). It doesn't sound to me like you're suppressing feelings, ethersvirtue (I could be wrong). It sounds to me like you aren't feeling them by no (conscious) choice of your own. If so, that's a very different situation than just stifling your own feelings and running from them.

I disagree that when you suppress one emotion, you suppress them all, though. I have suppressed (and I do mean suppressed- as in intentionally forced down) certain emotions and not others a lot in my life. I've also had trouble feeling certain emotions that I know are there, but that doesn't mean I can't feel any emotion at all. In fact, sometimes emotions become buried under other emotions. You might feel sorrow where you should feel rage. And I think when it comes to abuse, emotions can come in layers. As you process through your history bit by bit, you uncover layers of sorrow, anger, fear, love, confusion, guilt, etc.

I hope I'm helping and not just typing to hear myself think! lol!

SweetCrusader

comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable