[SKCher]

It occurred to me today, that I don't know what emotions I feel. Strange at 61. the only emotions I seem to know are depressed and excited (hypo manic I guess). Don't know what it feels to be inlove, since all my relationships have been based on need to be loved. I know anger, and guilt, but that's about it. When I thought I was inlove it was heart pounding, heart being ripped out, fear of being left. Of course there was that honeymoon period, but that too was the high in me.

It's an all or nothing, black and white type of feeling, it's either really dark, or really light if that makes sense. I am hoping that with the proper therapy I will learn to identify the little ones that I don't understand.

Thanks for listening

[Sunflower123]

I have a problem with all or nothing thinking that causes me all types of problems so I understand what you are saying about your emotions.

I hope with therapy you can learn the nuances of the emotions in between. Best wishes.

[Travelinglady]

I hope you can get better, too. At 62 I am able to feel a range of emotions. Therapy certainly made the difference.

[SKCher]

Thank you for your words

Originally Posted by Jennifer 1967

I have a problem with all or nothing thinking that causes me all types of problems so I understand what you are saying about your emotions.

I hope with therapy you can learn the nuances of the emotions in between. Best wishes.

[Slightlydelusional]

I can relate to the all or nothing thinking, it's my world for so long and has brought complete destruction to my life.

[SKCher]

May I ask what form of therapy you found helpful for this?

Originally Posted by Slightlydelusional

I can relate to the all or nothing thinking, it's my world for so long and has brought complete destruction to my life.

[Miss Laura]

Yes I have been told I have black and white thinking too.... I catastrophise everything I am working on it through doing CBT. I also have all or nothing thinking and I am again working on it all in therapy

Most of the time, I see the world in its various shades of grey, not black and white. I often marvel at how simplistically other people view it. Right, wrong, good, bad, etc. it's always more complicated than the surface makes it appear. When I'm unwell however, things become very black and white for me and since this is unusual terrain for me, it's very difficult to navigate and causes an increase to my problems and paranoia. I've yet to find anything useful when I'm unwell, something to put the world back to its shades of grey and other colors. For me it takes time and trying to look at everything from varying viewpoints. Getting the opinions of people I trust helps sometimes. People often help me see sides to things I hadn't considered. I can be stubborn at times but I pride myself in being able to see these shades of grey. Black and white is far too boring. All the truly interesting stuff comes from those grey areas. Seeing in only black and white is so frustrating to a person because it's not reality. I hope you find something helpful for you. (((Hugs)))

[NeedHaldol]

Having radical opposite views/feelings is a symptom of some mental illnesses.

Trying to put yourself in someone you know and trust to see how they would think about it helps temper the extreme views.

The most famous, which I don't endorse - "what would jesus do?"

I hope you are able to sort out what you're feeling in therapy, SKCher, and also to free yourself from black and white thinking.

(I live in a world of grays. Except catastrophizing. Good at that. Working on it.)

[~Christina]

Therapy can help you see things from a different perspective, Ones right in our face that we cant even see it.

My Therapy has saved my life more times that I will share.

Hope you find some middle ground soon. Black and white is a tough place to be.

[Unrigged64072835]

I did CBT for this. It helps with challenging the thoughts.

[SKCher]

Speaking of CBT, anyone have any info on DBT?