# No emotion symptoms?



## Danny213 (Jul 21, 2012)

Im pretty sure I have derposnalization I have all the feelings of being detatched,Thoughts of the world not being real (not much anymore), Visual symptoms,Memory loss,Feeling that the marijuana high never went away, but I still have emotions. I still can laugh,feel happy,Sad,Exitement,embaressed etc do all people with depersonalization/derealization have no emotions or just some? and if I have emotions does that mean I dont have depersonalization/derealization and I have something else?

I also still have my sex drive where other people said they do not.


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## shattered memories (Jul 19, 2012)

Its hard to say but its still very possible u are DP. You dont have to have all the symptoms and even so they may vary greatly in degree. For example some people say objects look 2-D or distorted...or sometimes see themselves in third person...which i luckily dont experience. I feel emotions to an extent too but they lack depth and color.


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## PositiveThinking! (Mar 5, 2010)

I have DP/DR and I do feel emotions, but there were a few times (more than I wanted) where I felt like I didn't care about anything, nothing meant anything, I was empty


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## miguelmalato (Jan 9, 2012)

Danny213 said:


> Im pretty sure I have derposnalization I have all the feelings of being detatched,Thoughts of the world not being real (not much anymore), Visual symptoms,Memory loss,Feeling that the marijuana high never went away, but I still have emotions. I still can laugh,feel happy,Sad,Exitement,embaressed etc do all people with depersonalization/derealization have no emotions or just some? and if I have emotions does that mean I dont have depersonalization/derealization and I have something else?
> 
> I also still have my sex drive where other people said they do not.


I would say you don't have DP/DR.

Emotional numbness is a key symptom of Depersonalization/Derealization.

Lack of being able to feel happyness or sadness, not being able to cry... that's fucked up


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## PositiveThinking! (Mar 5, 2010)

miguelmalato said:


> I would say you don't have DP/DR.
> 
> Emotional numbness is a key symptom of Depersonalization/Derealization.
> 
> Lack of being able to feel happyness or sadness, not being able to cry... that's fucked up


That doesn't make much sense mate, first of all most people here do feel emotions, and they get every other symptom, have gone through most experiences as a DP'd person would, do you really think 90% of the people here aren't DP'd?

What I think is that emotional detachment is a symptom of DP, which gets better if you actually do something about it, not to mention some people have gone through some messed up stuff and those probably feel emotional detachment at a very high level, no wonder though.

I've felt emotionally detached before, even made a thread like 2 years ago in here about it, I felt like a damn robot who couldn't feel anything, nowadays I can feel love, happiness, sadness, everything basically. I know that DP is described everywhere mainly as a detachment from your own self, your emotions, yet I think it is just a symptom of DP like any other.


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## Midnight (Jul 16, 2011)

Personally, when I first got DP/DR through meditation about a year and a half ago, I had no conceivable emotions, meaning that I couldn't feel anything. My mind was also completely blank so I couldn't imagine the past or future or anything. This eased up greatly and now I feel more, certainly anger and irritation.

These days my symptoms mirror depression as well as DP/DR when before it was pure DP.

Emotions do come back.


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## Danny213 (Jul 21, 2012)

Its weird, even when I first got my dp and it was at its worst I still felt emotions, but had all the other symptoms of feeling detatched from my body sorta as if there was a tv screen infront of my eyes and I was watching my life, In fluorescent lighting everything looked flat,Thoughts of the world being a joke etc. The question is even if I had emotions when my dp was at its worse do I have depersonalization? sorry im asking so much questions but I just gotta know my anxiety is killin me atm.


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## actor_bs (May 26, 2012)

we have emotions, we could't function without them, and everyone could spot the difference in behaviour.. but like physical world around us they seem unreal.. I asked myself often, how did I get this emotion?, why? where do emotions generate? are they mine? why?
DP doesn't mean that someone could insult you and you are totally cool with that, or loose something loved one and don't care..


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## PositiveThinking! (Mar 5, 2010)

actor_bs said:


> we have emotions, we could't function without them, and everyone could spot the difference in behaviour.. but like physical world around us they seem unreal.. I asked myself often, how did I get this emotion?, why? where do emotions generate? are they mine? why?
> DP doesn't mean that someone could insult you and you are totally cool with that, or loose something loved one and don't care..


Agreed 100%


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## Magrathea (Jul 8, 2010)

PositiveThinking! said:


> I've felt emotionally detached before, even made a thread like 2 years ago in here about it, I felt like a damn robot who couldn't feel anything, nowadays I can feel love, happiness, sadness, everything basically. I know that DP is described everywhere mainly as a detachment from your own self, your emotions, yet I think it is just a symptom of DP like any other.


I think it is the symptom that turns dp into a serious problem for the individual; without it dp would be little more than a bit of dizzyness


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## Danny213 (Jul 21, 2012)

Magrathea said:


> I think it makes certain amount of sense. A key, defining feature of DP is emotional blankness, but of course degrees of this can vary from just about noticeable to severe. Here is my take: if you are feeling strong emotions of exitement, expectation and satisfaction, the chances are you are not dped. I don't think you need be an emotionless robot to be dped, but those emotions i mention rely on relishing your position in the story of life; somnething i think most dped people would agree is absent with a dp problem.
> 
> I think it is the symptom that turns dp into a serious problem for the individual; without it dp would be little more than a bit of dizzyness


Well If you say I don't have dp then why does it feel like Im watching my self do things and the feeling of feeling unfocused. etc.


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## PositiveThinking! (Mar 5, 2010)

Magrathea said:


> I think it makes certain amount of sense. A key, defining feature of DP is emotional blankness, but of course degrees of this can vary from just about noticeable to severe. Here is my take: if you are feeling strong emotions of exitement, expectation and satisfaction, the chances are you are not dped. I don't think you need be an emotionless robot to be dped, but those emotions i mention rely on relishing your position in the story of life; somnething i think most dped people would agree is absent with a dp problem.
> 
> I think it is the symptom that turns dp into a serious problem for the individual; without it dp would be little more than a bit of dizzyness


As actor_bs said, we could not function without emotions and all of us have them, yet if you're DP'd and are going through a really tough time you will feel as if you have no emotions, you won't be able to feel happy and you'll be indifferent to many things that would normally shock you, I know that since I have felt that way, lately I've been feeling emotions does that mean I'm recovered? Nope, I still get some random thoughts once in a while, everything around me looks fake and weird, I have tons of visual symptoms, I have a really hard time concentrating and staying motivated. It just got better with time, and I do hope it keeps getting better, knowing that I'm able to feel something is actually good since a lot of people in here struggle with the extreme emotional numbness, and that's why I'm here right now, to try and help out with what I can and eventually post something if I'm feeling bad.

Also, saying that DP/DR without emotional numbness would be little more than a bit of dizziness doesn't make sense at all, many people struggle with a lot of symptoms, I've gone through hell, I had an extreme fear of death and the unknown because of DP, I kept asking why we were here, what created us and crap like that, my DR used to get so bad that I just had to close my eyes so that I didn't have to look at how unreal things were, I feel like a damn robot walking because I don't feel my body, god knows what else... I wouldn't really mind having someone telling me that I don't have DP/DR, but saying that DP without constant emotional numbness is little more than a bit of dizziness is not fair after I almost killed myself because of DP/DR


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## PositiveThinking! (Mar 5, 2010)

Danny213 said:


> Well If you say I don't have dp then why does it feel like Im watching my self do things and the feeling of feeling unfocused. etc.


I'd say you do have DP, if you've never experienced emotional numbness it is weird but still


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## JamesG (Jul 21, 2012)

PositiveThinking! said:


> I'd say you do have DP, if you've never experienced emotional numbness it is weird but still


Yeah I remember even when my DP was bad I still had the ability to full on cry.


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## Magrathea (Jul 8, 2010)

PositiveThinking! said:


> Also, saying that DP/DR without emotional numbness would be little more than a bit of dizziness doesn't make sense at all, many people struggle with a lot of symptoms, I've gone through hell, I had an extreme fear of death and the unknown because of DP, I kept asking why we were here, what created us and crap like that, my DR used to get so bad that I just had to close my eyes so that I didn't have to look at how unreal things were, I feel like a damn robot walking because I don't feel my body, god knows what else... I wouldn't really mind having someone telling me that I don't have DP/DR, but saying that DP without constant emotional numbness is little more than a bit of dizziness is not fair after I almost killed myself because of DP/DR


When you say you had to close your eyes so avoid how unreal everything seemed and were walking about like a robot, imo you are describing emotional numbness. There is no normal emotional feedback sensation from the world and so everything feels removed from context; like a sophisticated simulation or stage scenery. There is little or no sense of expectation, satisfaction or excitement because there is no sense of contact with other minds and so your actions are internally intelectualised; I need to do this chore and then this chore. I don't understand how this can be very controversial - a key, defining component of dp is emotional bluntness and so experiencing strong, subtle (normal) emotions like excitement, expectation etc is kinda not that. As for my dizzyness statement, I substantially stand by it, but would add that emotional numbness in the broadest sense is behind a lot of the really unpleasant, disconcerting effects of dp - more than anything else, humans are knots of emotion and if you take that away, there is very little left to hold on to (in my experience, nothing)

Why rush to say the guy has dp when he may well have some other dissasociative type issue and why say that it makes no sense to point out that his description doesn't (on the face of it) quite fit dp, when it doesn't?

i'm sorry to hear you had so much pain and am glad you pulled through


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## Magrathea (Jul 8, 2010)

Danny213 said:


> Well If you say I don't have dp then why does it feel like Im watching my self do things and the feeling of feeling unfocused. etc.


I don't know you don't have dp, i can only say your description of your emotions doesn't quite fit the textbook def (the textbook is mostly written by people who haven't had the condition). When you feel like this, do you feel still feel yourself in contact with others or do you feel entirely alone like a frozen bubble of sensation in an empty void? Feeling like there is no involvment with others is almost the definition of dp


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## PositiveThinking! (Mar 5, 2010)

Magrathea said:


> When you say you had to close your eyes so avoid how unreal everything seemed and were walking about like a robot, imo you are describing emotional numbness. There is no normal emotional feedback sensation from the world and so everything feels removed from context; like a sophisticated simulation or stage scenery. There is little or no sense of expectation, satisfaction or excitement because there is no sense of contact with other minds and so your actions are internally intelectualised; I need to do this chore and then this chore. I don't understand how this can be very controversial - a key, defining component of dp is emotional bluntness and so experiencing strong, subtle (normal) emotions like excitement, expectation etc is kinda not that. As for my dizzyness statement, I substantially stand by it, but would add that emotional numbness in the broadest sense is behind a lot of the really unpleasant, disconcerting effects of dp - more than anything else, humans are knots of emotion and if you take that away, there is very little left to hold on to (in my experience, nothing)
> 
> Why rush to say the guy has dp when he may well have some other dissasociative type issue and why say that it makes no sense to point out that his description doesn't (on the face of it) quite fit dp, when it doesn't?
> 
> i'm sorry to hear you had so much pain and am glad you pulled through


I refer to emotional numbness as a detachment from your own emotions, like I said back in the days I felt indifference, I felt no joy. I never thought the robotic feeling could be related to emotional numbness, anyways I don't really care for labels, it's all a bunch of complex and life impairing symptoms.

Also, when I say I think he does have that's just my opinion, and I'm no doctor, I can only talk out of experience, also just wondering, what would you say that he has? I mean he feels as if the world isn't real, he feels detached, memory loss, visual symptoms, and he says that it looks like a marijuana high that never went away, which is how I describe it to people who don't know what it is.


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## PositiveThinking! (Mar 5, 2010)

Magrathea said:


> Feeling like there is no involvment with others


Now I can relate to that, I could 'connect' to people, my family, my friends, all of a sudden I felt detached, they were somehow... different, like I could recognise people but they just didn't look the same and back then I felt like I lost my emotions but nowadays I don't feel so emotionless yet I still feel disconnected from people


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## Danny213 (Jul 21, 2012)

Magrathea said:


> I don't know you don't have dp, i can only say your description of your emotions doesn't quite fit the textbook def (the textbook is mostly written by people who haven't had the condition). When you feel like this, do you feel still feel yourself in contact with others or do you feel entirely alone like a frozen bubble of sensation in an empty void? Feeling like there is no involvment with others is almost the definition of dp


Im not sure Ive always felt connected to people by empathy and talking to people sorta was the only way to make me feel not so depersonalized. But I do remember thinking when my dp was at its worst a few years ago I used to to think it was hard to believe who my mom was and stuff like that but I still knew deep inside that was my mom. I don't feel those feelings anymore. Maybe most of my dp went away other then the visual symptoms? because I still get those a lot.


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## PositiveThinking! (Mar 5, 2010)

Danny213 said:


> Im not sure Ive always felt connected to people by empathy and talking to people sorta was the only way to make me feel not so depersonalized. But I do remember thinking when my dp was at its worst a few years ago I used to to think it was hard to believe who my mom was and stuff like that but I still knew deep inside that was my mom. I don't feel those feelings anymore. Maybe most of my dp went away other then the visual symptoms? because I still get those a lot.


I can relate, talking with other people was extremely hard but it was the only way to keep me "sane" , also seeing people in a different way, it really looks like it's not the same person, someone you've known for years but deep inside you it's the same person


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## PositiveThinking! (Mar 5, 2010)

@OP

Taken from the book "Overcoming Depersonalization Disorder"

"Many people with DPD describe themselves as 'numb' , but this isn't exactly the case, or at least it's not the whole picture. Emotional numbness or a completely flat disposition may be better diagnosed as a thought disorder or another condition where acknowledgment of reality is impaired, rather than depersonalization"


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## Juan (Jul 5, 2012)

anxiety too overwhealming for your body is the cause of DP. So dp is not something on its own- it is a symptom of chronic anxiety. If you don't have the extreme's of symptoms, that means your body isn't as drained from worrisome thoughts as others are. That is good. Finding ways to rest the mind is key- dp is only a drain of mental fuel. if you are on empty, and keep trying to operate, it will just keep you in the state of being detatched


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## Magrathea (Jul 8, 2010)

Juan said:


> anxiety too overwhealming for your body is the cause of DP. So dp is not something on its own- it is a symptom of chronic anxiety. If you don't have the extreme's of symptoms, that means your body isn't as drained from worrisome thoughts as others are. That is good. Finding ways to rest the mind is key- dp is only a drain of mental fuel. if you are on empty, and keep trying to operate, it will just keep you in the state of being detatched


Your theory is substantialy contradicted by some people's experiences. You have no more idea what dp actually is than anyone else


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## missjess (Jun 1, 2012)

Danny213 said:


> Im pretty sure I have derposnalization I have all the feelings of being detatched,Thoughts of the world not being real (not much anymore), Visual symptoms,Memory loss,Feeling that the marijuana high never went away, but I still have emotions. I still can laugh,feel happy,Sad,Exitement,embaressed etc do all people with depersonalization/derealization have no emotions or just some? and if I have emotions does that mean I dont have depersonalization/derealization and I have something else?
> 
> I also still have my sex drive where other people said they do not.


Severity depends on the types of traumas people have had...if you continue to be in the face of trauma you could progressively get worse it sounds like you have dissociation ... do you still have access to your anger or do you dissociate from it?


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## Fearthainn (Feb 19, 2009)

I feel emotions when I'm in this DP/DR state, but I seem to repress most negative ones, which can't be good. I am either extremely anxious or feeling pretty good and able to be happy in the moments when I can relax. If I start thinking I may feel sad it gets overrun by anxiety straight away.


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