using process of elimination to identify emotions

[stranger2myself!]

not sure if this is just part of dissociation or if its something else, but ive noticed ive been doing this a lot lately. if someone asks how im doing, i dont know what to say because i dont feel terrible, but i dont feel great, and i dont feel okay either. so ill answer them like "well i dont know, im not terrible, but im not doing that great either", and i have to keep eliminating what im NOT feeling to figure out what exactly i AM feeling. anyone else?
i also sometimes get half way through a task before i even realize im doing it. for example i put my sweatshirt on this morning, and than i thought to myself "why am i putting this on? its too hot out".

 

[Wendell_R]

I have a different version of this. When one of my dissociative parts is causing me distress, I can often figure out who it is by eliminating all the parts that are resting or feeling fine.

 

[Movingforward10]

Yep.
Tried this . Worked out that trying to figure out how I feel by process of elimination of feelings, doesn't make me work out what I'm feeling. Mainly because the only feelings I can think of at that time are basic 'happt/sad' feelings.
I then look at the feelings wheel to try and think of more feelings.
Sometimes that helps. But when I'm really disassociated, it doesn't help at all. I think that is because my whole being is working so hard to not feel that feelings are not accessible. So maybe I just feel the feeling of trying not to feel?
My T says that's ok. It's ok to not know what the feeling is. To just accept that for the time being.

 

[Mee]

I don’t know if you might relate to this?

During sessions my T will ask my how I feel about something and I flounder a bit .... she will make a suggestion like ‘angry’ or ‘sad’ and that helps me pin point it - ‘no, not angry more disillusioned’ or ‘more frustrated than sad’.

By knowing what I don’t feel I can pin point more accurately and specifically what I do. Sometimes the emotions are really similar, so my body language and word selection is clearly indicative of the region of my feeling around the subject.

When I am disassociated i mainly feel ‘numb’ or remote or even theoretical about emotions