[Victoria'smom]

Has anyone's doctor / therapist told them they have the wrong affect? I was told my affect was wrong. Is there anything you can do about that? I can always look smiling and happy no matter how dark my thoughts are. I think I disturbed my pdoc.

Originally Posted by Miguel'smom

I can always look smiling and happy no matter how dark my thoughts are. I think I disturbed my pdoc.

lol. That's totally me.

I actually confused my first therapist. I was heavily suicidal and felt like there was nothing to live for, but I was making stupid jokes and smiling.

I think part of it was me trying to be positive and likeable. I didn't want to come across as a total fun sucker. THe other part of it was using smiles and happiness as a coping mechanism.

Oh yeah, and a really WEIRD thing: I used to work in a research lab, and my professor and I were talking about 9/11 for some reason. Then I was like, "I had two family members who died in 9/11." Then I was smiling! I think I was just trying to stay positive and prevent myself from crying.

Even right now, I feel so horrible... but whatever

Can you think of why you might be that way? Coping mechanism?

[Victoria'smom]

I've always been that way. I've never really thought bad of it until he mentioned it. I just thought I was a good pretender. He said it's an indicator for SzA.

I have no idea if it's an indicator for SZA. First time I've heard that.

Are you experiencing any weird emotions/beliefs right now that could be related to your SZA? If so, do you feel they're affecting your thought processes?

[Victoria'smom]

I'm still mixed. My emotions and thoughts are all over the place still. I'm very very confused so it is affecting my thoughts.

[Atypical_Disaster]

Originally Posted by Miguel'smom

I've always been that way. I've never really thought bad of it until he mentioned it. I just thought I was a good pretender. He said it's an indicator for SzA.

An inappropriate/wrong affect can be a symptom of schizoaffective disorder/schizophrenia.

My affect isn't appropriate when I'm manic/mixed/depressed but the rest of the time it's okay from what I've heard.

It's called inappropriate affect and is seen with schizophrenia. It's like the wiring between your emotions and your affect get crossed and so the wrong affect comes out. I find it really upsetting when it happens to me because I can't control it no matter how hard I try.

It is different to when I *choose* to display a positive affect to a sad situation. I do that a lot as a coping mechanism. I don't know how they tell the difference cos from the outside it would look the same, but inside it feels very different.

Anyway, hope that helps

*Willow*

Originally Posted by WeepingWillow23

It's called inappropriate affect and is seen with schizophrenia. It's like the wiring between your emotions and your affect get crossed and so the wrong affect comes out. I find it really upsetting when it happens to me because I can't control it no matter how hard I try.

It is different to when I *choose* to display a positive affect to a sad situation. I do that a lot as a coping mechanism. I don't know how they tell the difference cos from the outside it would look the same, but inside it feels very different.

Anyway, hope that helps

*Willow*

Thank you for this explanation. I've had this happen several times and you saying it's like the wiring is off resonates with me. It's different from when I smile to pretend I'm happy or be more likeable. To give an example, years ago my husbands grandfather died. When we went to his funeral, it was very moving and touching. He was a very impressive man with lots of good works and people who he inspired. I felt a wave of tears but I started laughing. I covered it but it was overwhelming and I was not happy of course and was horrified that I could barely contain myself. I finally got a grip but I was so scared it would happen again that we had to leave early. I didn't tell my husband about the laughter and don't think anyone noticed. If they would have, I'd have seemed to be a sociopath and I assure you I was very sad and the service was anything but funny. I'm diagnosed with SZA and I'm struggling to accept it .....this seems another reason to seriously consider the chance that I do. Like I said, this is different than putting on a brave face, though I do that too. It can be very challenging to deal with in certain situations. I also cry hysterically sometimes when I'm very happy. I know it's normal to get teary when overjoyed but this is different I think. I don't know if I've been in a mood episode everytime it's happened and most of the time it's annoying but not life altering....at funerals though it's unacceptable as people just wouldn't understand. I'm sorry you deal with this too.

[Victoria'smom]

Okay, so I often do have the wrong affect. Is there anything you can do about it?

[Moose72]

psych ER docs once wrote that I had adhedonia (??) - lack of emotion. I guess that's the wrong emotion for being there.

I've had it where I'm laughing when I tell a really sad story so no one gets how upset I am about it because all they see is me giggling. Sometimes I will be mildly irritated at something and angry comes out. And a few times I've seemed really calm on the outside when I'm horribly distressed on the inside. That's part of the reason why I've been accused of lying about my struggles in the past. Then there's also flat affect where everyone assumes I'm depressed when I'm not.

Originally Posted by Miguel'smom

Is there anything you can do about it?

I have no idea, sorry. I've tried explaining to people when the wrong affect comes out with what I was really feeling inside, but I'm not sure they ever believe me. People tend to believe body language over words IME.

*Willow*

[scatterbrained04]

I've been told my facial expressions don't match up to my thoughts/emotions. It gets me in to trouble sometimes especially at work. For example, I am told I look like I have a blank stare and look like I'm ignoring people when really I'm trying to listen or am thinking hard about something. I hate being judged by my body language.

[Victoria'smom]

I'm sorry a bunch of us have this issue but at least I don't feel alone

[Cyllya]

My doctor has never told me anything about my affect, but when I requested my medical records for insurance purposes, I found out they were taking note of it every time. Sometimes they put "normal" and sometimes they put "flat" or "depressed." They also once described me as anxious when I didn't feel anxious, but that wasn't listed in the section on affect.