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Ptsd And Seeing Other People's Emotions

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Abrasky

MyPTSD Pro
Does anone have a phobia or fear of seeing other people's emotions? When I was in a trauma when I was 19, seeing my brother get attacked by my dad, my empathy was so much and the pain I saw in my brother's emotions so painful, I developed a fear/phobia of seeing other people's emotions. I am quite able to recognise my own. But when it comes to others as soon as they express and emotion I run away. So I usually only talk to people for 3 sentences at most.
 
Bang, right on the button of what I am struggling most with now. I fear to see others emotions because I no longer feel able to isolate myself from it. It felt like a skill I had learnt to be able to see other people upset, even comfort them but to be able to slam a steel gate in my chest to control my own emotion's.

Now it feels like Ptsd or maybe the therapy for it has buckled that gate or caused it to come off it's runners so that it doesn't close anymore. Now even a cartoon character sad or upset can cause a sob to escape me, my chest to start pumping or my eyes to water up to overflowing.

I regularly see people here saying they wish they could feel emotion's, but I think they should be careful what they wish for as I never thought I lacked emotion's, but it certainly feels like I have an abundance of them now.
 
Yes I personally believe ptsd has more to do with too much emotion that too little, even numbness is because of too much- or too many emotions- at once, it seems to me.
But I don't know Jesta, think people are very much comforted seeing other people's emotion(s), especially as regards their own situation which they may not feel justified to feel that way about.

And ya- they had a kid's story "Charlotte's Web" on TV out here - tell me about it.
frown.png
 
Glad to know I'm not the only one who is scared of emotions, although not glad that anyone else has to feel numb because they are scared of feeling the intense emotions too.
Seeing too many emotions in the face of my brother during a trauma(He was screamed and yelled at more visciously for a sustained period of time) I became angry at looking at my brother's emotions not my dad for that trauma. My psychologist said people were confused why I was always angry at them. I am starting to be happy about other people's emotions again, it doesn't bring back flashbacks of my brother anymore, or if it does I am finallly dealing with it.
I think you are right June-bug, seeing other people have emotions is very comforting. I am starting to like seeing other people's emotions. I hugged my son and husband so much this morning. It's a good thing. I am also starting to show my own emotions of sadness, grief, happiness again too.
I've learned that other people's emotions are never responsible for the pain we feel inflicted on us when we witness an abuse against another human being.
 
That's interesting.
The only emotion I can actually empathise with involuntarily is anger at injustice. For everything else I'd need to make a conscious decision to feel.
 
Nor can we always make them feel better or console them, only be aware and try.
I think a part of me wouldn't be consoled by other's until I was ready. I think a part of you still always remembers someone consoling you, even if you are disconnected and can't feel the emotion of it. Maybe some things have to be dug out a bit to enable the consoling to get to it.

I went for a walk today and looked at someone else going for a walk. They smiled and I said good monring. I nearly burst into tears because I said good morning to someone and wasn't scared of their emotions.
 
"Don't you dare cry!" "If you think that hurt....." "You better not make a sound or I will make it worse!" "You better shut that kid up or....." etc., etc., etc.

That is what teaches us to stuff our emotions, or at least it did me. It also made me feel as though I have to "fix" everything and make someone else "happy", because if I fail then something horrible will happen to them. So any negative emotion terrifies me.

Does anyone else feel this way?
 
Yes, I feel horrible when others feel horrible, and vice versa. I don't know if 'I' expect to alter it, but I do feel partly to blame. Or sad, also.
 
Yes, I feel horrible when others feel horrible, and vice versa. I don't know if 'I' expect to alter it, but I do feel partly to blame. Or sad, also.

Me, too - horrible when others feel horrible.

However, sometimes I feel sad/envious when they're extremely happy.....which I know is wrong....and I feel guilty about it and try my best to hide it.
 
"Don't you dare cry!" "If you think that hurt....." "You better not make a sound or I will make it worse!" "You better shut that kid up or....." etc., etc., etc.

That is what teaches us to stuff our emotions, or at least it did me. It also made me feel as though I have to "fix" everything and make someone else "happy", because if I fail then something horrible will happen to them. So any negative emotion terrifies me.

Does anyone else feel this way?

Oh yeah.
 
I often crumple physically when I witness someone going through too much pain. I overreact with empathy. I also have another friend with PTSD who is even worse than I am with coping in the face of others' emotions.

Also with the cartoon thing, geeze that's annoying. I saw "UP!", didn't cry at the sad montage or the mailbox part or anything else, but when he yelled, "BAD DOG!" at Doug, I totally lost it. Getting emotional just remembering that scene. Good grief.
 
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