Ok, this seems to be the root of a lot of questions but I can't find where it has been asked already.

Those of you who don't 'feel' numb, what do you feel? I mean, what exactly do you feel inside to know that you are really feeling? Is there physical sensations or do you just 'know' that you are happy or sad or angry or etc.....?

Just curious how others out there perceive their emotions.

[offthegrid]

I never understood what people mean when they say they become "numb." When I'm happy or content I'm just existing in a calm state. With the more stressful emotions such as fear or anger I do have a physical reaction ranging from increased pulse, headaches, lack of appetite and an inability to concentrate or focus on things. I think this is what naturally happens to most people when under stress which is very strange to me as I didn't have such strong physical reactions to stress when I was younger.

[unsure989]

I don't really do emotions, however i'm learning to acknowledge them and name them in therapy. I do know when I'm uncomfortable, or anxious, nervous. I feel all these physical symptoms inside, like my stomach hurts or I shake.

[Fuzzybear]

I feel a more-or-less low grade throbbing nervous tension all the time. I think it's probably the kind of feeling a person has normally just at the point where they realize they're in a dangerous situation. The full-blown anxiety attack hasn't hit yet. But the entire body feels on edge, ready for the fight-or-flight instinct to kick in.

[Love&Toil]

The odd time when I'm giddy/happy can feel an uncontrollable urge to giggle in my chest and flap my arms. It's quite physical.

When feeling rage it feels very physical, I get agitated in my arms, I feel like I have to grab something or squeeze my hands very tight and bend my arms.

Sometimes irritability can feel like there are glass shards coursing through my veins.

Well-being can feel like a warm, relaxed glow.

[PianogirlPlays]

Originally Posted by offthegrid

I never understood what people mean when they say they become "numb." When I'm happy or content I'm just existing in a calm state. With the more stressful emotions such as fear or anger I do have a physical reaction ranging from increased pulse, headaches, lack of appetite and an inability to concentrate or focus on things. I think this is what naturally happens to most people when under stress which is very strange to me as I didn't have such strong physical reactions to stress when I was younger.

Me too! All kinds of physical responses!

hmm, all very interesting. Maybe nobody really 'feels' constantly and only when their is a heightened emotional state.

I noticed most people only connected to physical pain and sensation of negative emotions. Wonder if that means that there really isn't much feeling with positive.

Anyone else??

[Thunder Bow]

What do I feel inside from my Emotions? I feel ME!

[glok]

Hello, lt12345. A recurring feeling for me is a vise has a grip on my stomach.

I wish you well.

Originally Posted by lt12345

Ok, this seems to be the root of a lot of questions but I can't find where it has been asked already.

Those of you who don't 'feel' numb, what do you feel? I mean, what exactly do you feel inside to know that you are really feeling? Is there physical sensations or do you just 'know' that you are happy or sad or angry or etc.....?

Just curious how others out there perceive their emotions.

Wish i'd have answered this BEFORE meds.
Hm let's see, panic, self doubt, something telling me that i'm not good enough, however it has not yet manifested into any physical form or symbolism.
If I have bouts of emotional pain I get physical pains, and holding emotions down so that I do not become manic after depression is very hard, as i've recently discovered, so i'm bracing myself for the rollercoaster of Hell.
Ty for setting up this thread!

[Lady Courtesan]

Glok, that is so sad!

I wonder if many others, beside yourself, name a physical reaction when you are naming your emotions. Perhaps you are waiting for a landslide, or perhaps you are not paying attention.

When you see a butterfly, so fragile, so beautifu as it skips and dances across the breeze-don't you feel the slightest quickening in response-and even if it does not make you smile, there is the smallest place iside of you that is smiling,

I am such an emotional creature! I've never had a choice. My lover takes off his heavy gloves and my skin prickles, already imagining what his naked hands will feel like as they slide across my skin.

And when you watch a movie, or read a book and after so many defeats and so many obstacles, the hero finally wins-don't you root for him? Aren't you happy for him and the heroine as they kiss and all is right with the world before the screen fades to black?

And how does it make you feel when you drop a dollar into the kettle as a volunteer smiles and continues to ring his bell at Christmas? Don't you feel a flash of compassion for those that dollar will help, a tiny nuance of pride as that crackling dollar falls in among the rest?

Your emotions respond a thousand times an hour and you can feel them if you only pay attention. Irritation when you knock over a glass of milk, grumpiness as you clean the mess, impatience as you fill it yet again and finally pleasure as the cold, fresh, delicious liquid slides over your tongue.

Every experience, every action, produces a hundred emotions-you only have to become adept at catching them. Stand in a museum and behold a Monet or a DeGa and allow your eyes and then your soul, to drink in the astonishing beauty. Your eye follow a thousand tiny, careful brush strokes and and colors that swirl and change before your eyes...

The emotions are there-all you have to do is let them in.

And I defy you, Glok, to say you don't take pleasure in the words you quote, pleasure in the words of the fine writer's whose work you read.
whisper-and you really should open your mail...you have no idea how many people here like and admire you...

Originally Posted by The Skeezyks

I feel a more-or-less low grade throbbing nervous tension all the time. I think it's probably the kind of feeling a person has normally just at the point where they realize they're in a dangerous situation. The full-blown anxiety attack hasn't hit yet. But the entire body feels on edge, ready for the fight-or-flight instinct to kick in.

^^^ Me, too.

Uh... My emotions aren't always the greatest.

Sometimes I'll feel pretty good. A lot of times I'll feel this "dry" ache in my head and stomach. It's hard to describe, and the closest feeling I can think of is nausea, but I guess it's similar to a fight-or-flight response. I'm pretty anxious most of the time, which is a feeling of slight dread in the back of my mind and occasionally stomach pains.

I guess emotions are different for everybody.

[carpe_diem44]

Originally Posted by glok

Hello, lt12345. A recurring feeling for me is a vise has a grip on my stomach.

I wish you well.

Yes! I can identify. My stomach hurts all the time. ...and the constant "fight or flight" scared for no logical reason that was mentioned above. Before therapy, I was emotionally numb/detached. I rarely felt much of anything.

I mainly feel this very dark state of depression. Unless I've been smoking weed then usually I feel some combination of depression and loneliness. The 'bad days' are when I feel all this and then hopeless also. Most of the time I can handle it pretty calmly, but sometimes it gets to be too much and that's when I get pretty hopeless. I usually know when it's coming because I can't breathe well, there's a tightness, and it feels like a sinking weight in my stomach, like I can feel my spirits drop. I know it sounds weird, but that's what I feel inside. Don't ask me to explain happiness or contentment, those are things I know nothing about.

[healingme4me]

Originally Posted by lt12345

Ok, this seems to be the root of a lot of questions but I can't find where it has been asked already.

Those of you who don't 'feel' numb, what do you feel? I mean, what exactly do you feel inside to know that you are really feeling? Is there physical sensations or do you just 'know' that you are happy or sad or angry or etc.....?

Just curious how others out there perceive their emotions.

Usually, numb is a state of despair, for me. Sinking feeling in the gut, heart loudly beating and a little faster. Different than an anxiety palpitation. I, usually alternate, situation dependant between calm, some joy, some anger, some sadness. Irritated comes when physically tired, and I am fluctuating between thinking about life, money, love, politics and focusing on family and I feel unable to breathe. Anger, tends to be situation dependant, may get a bit shaky in my hands, as I tense up, lip gets a little sore, biting has been age old self soother, biting my own lip, i must disclaim, if I am in psychotherapy work throughs, self work, actually, if something triggers my past upsets, I feel sick to my stomach and recognize it's an old wound.

I know sadness, from the tears.
I know happiness from the smiles.
Joy is longer lasting than happiness, i think? Joy is something I work on..

Think that's the usual suspects of emotional physiological reactions I can personally think of, at this moment. ..

[InTheProcess]

I wish I had more of an answer but it seems like most of the time I only register anger, self hate and saddness. Honestly, I never understood I people say feeling 'numb' is bad, I wish I could just click on 'numb' when needed, like some sort of defense mechanism.