3 ms·

I recall reading a while back that there is in fact a "too much emotion" school of thought on autism. The idea is that the autistic learn to totally deaden thei

by api 8y ago

I recall reading a while back that there is in fact a "too much emotion" school of thought on autism. The idea is that the autistic learn to totally deaden their emotions as a defense mechanism because the alternative is too intense and painful. Maybe it's the neurological opposite of psychopathy?

dsr_ 8y ago
I wish it were, but I've met at least one person who I think is both psychopathic and on the spectrum. Mind you, I'm not a psychiatrist and am unqualified to make diagnoses.
Nasrudith 8y ago
Really it is more a matter of expression and reading - they're still there but not expressed in the same way nor your cues and conventions picked up necessarily. Just because their tone may not convey it doesn't mean they have deadened emotions - that is depression. Think of it like a cat vs a dog wagging a tail. Usually a cat with a wagging tail is agitated - a dog with one is happy. Just because a cat with a wagging tail swats at you doesn't mean they are happy to attack - it means they are stressed out and you disregarded their clear signal! I say usually because there are outlier cases that learn the other conventions. See Tally the Husky for an example who even does the "cat-loafing" pose of hiding all legs while sitting.
gowld 8y ago
I suspect the "too much emotion" is a misguided attempt to spin a negative into a positive. I think it's more accurate to say that autistic people have "more emotion than they can manage" -- trouble managing (or lack of instinct for how to manage) their emotions to express them in socially acceptable ways, so they either feel overwhelemed because they don't know how to express emotions effectively, leading to either "yelling silently" (which creates a feeling of isolation from people they want to connect with) or outburst that scare people away (leading to real isolation), or both.

by api 8y ago

dsr_ 8y ago

I wish it were, but I've met at least one person who I think is both psychopathic and on the spectrum. Mind you, I'm not a psychiatrist and am unqualified to make diagnoses.

Nasrudith 8y ago

Really it is more a matter of expression and reading - they're still there but not expressed in the same way nor your cues and conventions picked up necessarily. Just because their tone may not convey it doesn't mean they have deadened emotions - that is depression. Think of it like a cat vs a dog wagging a tail. Usually a cat with a wagging tail is agitated - a dog with one is happy. Just because a cat with a wagging tail swats at you doesn't mean they are happy to attack - it means they are stressed out and you disregarded their clear signal! I say usually because there are outlier cases that learn the other conventions. See Tally the Husky for an example who even does the "cat-loafing" pose of hiding all legs while sitting.

gowld 8y ago

I suspect the "too much emotion" is a misguided attempt to spin a negative into a positive. I think it's more accurate to say that autistic people have "more emotion than they can manage" -- trouble managing (or lack of instinct for how to manage) their emotions to express them in socially acceptable ways, so they either feel overwhelemed because they don't know how to express emotions effectively, leading to either "yelling silently" (which creates a feeling of isolation from people they want to connect with) or outburst that scare people away (leading to real isolation), or both.