I was posting on another thread earlier about how when I get emotional I can't hide it and essentially just react to those emotions.
Which made me reflect that I have spent most of my life deliberately suppressing my emotions because I feel like I'm out of control when my emotions come up. I remember someone once expressing amazement that I actually cried!
So then it occurred to me that maybe others do the same thing and that could be why people think we're aloof and lacking empathy/sympathy.
Since discovering AS I am more and more convinced my father also had it.
He was British and I always thought he was just doing the 'stiff upper lip' thing that a lot of men, especially Brits, of that generation did. I think there's an element of that, but the more I think about it, I believe he was constantly battling to suppress his emotions because he felt vulnerable and out of control if they got the better of him.
I always thought he was just a cold fish, but as he got older and I understood him better I realized he was actually far more emotional than my mother.
I would be interested to hear others' thoughts on this.
Which made me reflect that I have spent most of my life deliberately suppressing my emotions because I feel like I'm out of control when my emotions come up. I remember someone once expressing amazement that I actually cried!
So then it occurred to me that maybe others do the same thing and that could be why people think we're aloof and lacking empathy/sympathy.
Since discovering AS I am more and more convinced my father also had it.
He was British and I always thought he was just doing the 'stiff upper lip' thing that a lot of men, especially Brits, of that generation did. I think there's an element of that, but the more I think about it, I believe he was constantly battling to suppress his emotions because he felt vulnerable and out of control if they got the better of him.
I always thought he was just a cold fish, but as he got older and I understood him better I realized he was actually far more emotional than my mother.
I would be interested to hear others' thoughts on this.