Discussion Would you prefer to be an emotionally flattened person, or a highly sensitive one who feels mostly negative emotions?

[Alex Fermentopathy]

I have an opinion on it but planning to disclose it later in order not to influence votes and posts.

 

[Actovania]

I am already undoubtedly the second one and it's not a good thing to live with. if i could just live a basic cookie-cutter life with nothing, it would at least be better than what i feel in life as a person right now

 

[ConfusedClouds]

I seem to swing between both. The intense emotion state can feel reassuring as if there is actual 'reason' behind not feeling right and/or attention seeking. But I'm much more day-to-day functional when numb, as long as noone tries asking any meaningful/deeper questions or tries asking me to 'open up' when I have nothing!

 

[Dr Iron Arc]

What do you mean by an emotionally-flattened person? Like someone who feels nothing at all to most things? I feel like I've become someone like that plenty of times as a direct consequence of being a negatively emotionally sensitive type almost all the time. It's more of a cycle to me and not a question of being one or the other.

 

[Spreadingmywings]

Both occur in me already tbh tbqh ngl

 

[Alex Fermentopathy]

What do you mean by an emotionally-flattened person?

Emotional blunting is the inability to experience both positive and negative emotions fully and may involve feelings of detachment.

I had it sometimes as a kid and some time later, and before I knew the term I called it in my mind "an illusion of boring existence" or something like that (in another language).

By the way: Scientists have worked out why common anti-depressants cause around a half of users to feel emotionally 'blunted'.

 

[Forever Sleep]

I'm already a fairly sensitive person who feels a lot of negative emotions but, I don't think feeling flattened out like a zombie would help me. I think antidepressants tend to do that to people. Don't you also lose joy then? And the few positive emotions left? I don't see the point in living like a robot.

Maybe if you were flat from the start, it would be ok. Then, there wouldn't be anything to miss but I think I'd miss my emotions. Even the negative ones. Sometimes, it's a relief to have a good, solid cry.

 

[sserafim]

Emotionally flattened

 

[Alex Fermentopathy]

I think antidepressants tend to do that to people

Yes, scientists discovered that, as I wrote recently in this thread.

Don't you also lose joy then? And the few positive emotions left? I don't see the point in living like a robot.

I think it is better to be emotionally-flattened so it should be easier to CTB and not to fall into an impulsive attempt.

 

[Red Moon]

I'm becoming emotionally flattened anyway but that's because of life.

 

[NonameNobody]

I've experienced both. I'm very sensitive and anxious, but I experienced an exteme numbing effect on an SSRI. Being sensitive is horrible when you are in a bad situation, but the SSRI made me feel like I'm already dead. If I stayed on it longer, I would probably CTB without worry, I didn't care about my family or consequences at all while on it. If one is 100% certain they want to CTB, it's better to be in such a state, makes it way easier. There is no fear, and you already feel dead.

 

[EvisceratedJester]

I'd prefer to be neither, to be honest. I want to have a healthy deep connection with my emotions, not be an overly sensitive person with mostly negative emotions or emotionally flattened. If I had to choose between the two then I'd be unsure, since both sound like they suck.

 

[Forveleth]

I've been a bit sensitive in my life before and it really wasn't fun because almost everything that happened upset me whether it was good or bad. When I was on venlafaxine a few years ago though, it definitely emotionally blunted me, and that was amazing. I felt great all the time because I stopped caring about anything and everything. I Tanked my physical health and didn't care. I spent my money willy-nilly on whatever I felt like buying. I made hurtful choices in my relationships. I had no sense of self-preservation. It was like all the responsibility that I had put on myself for years just came off and it was unbelievably amazing. I really miss it.

 

[ijustwishtodie]

Emotionally flattened for sure. I hate being highly sensitive. I tend to alternate between feeling emotionally flattened and being highly sensitive... the latter sucks significantly more than the former for me

 

[eatantz]

I wish i had no emotions at all, just neutral. I'm too sensitive and its ruined my life, happiness is impossible to achieve when I'm crying over every minor inconvenience

 

[Havnis]

Emotionally flattened

I thought emotions are for animals.

 

[fleshgarden]

I've experienced both. I used to be very sensitive and had breakdowns and cried hours over small things everyday (ex. feeling rejected by someone not liking a song I showed them) and once I was interested in psychology and learned to deal with those emotions I just felt dissociated and numb. now I switch between both states interchangeably. both are awful, but I guess when I'm more sensitive I feel justified in my pain

 

[Alexei_Kirillov]

I'm also someone who has experienced both, and I would choose highly sensitive in this forced choice hypothetical scenario. My reasoning is that it's a lot easier to just keep on keepin' on under the status quo when you're emotionally flattened. You don't care enough to make any changes in your life, whether that be CTB or some kind of improvement. So everything just stays the same, and time passes without you even realizing it. Meanwhile if you're highly sensitive and feeling overwhelming negative emotion, at least in my past experience, it can motivate you to do something to get yourself out of that position, including CTB. SI is easier to overcome when there's another force of equal strength pushing against it (ie. negative emotion). IMO it's harder to go through with when you're just totally numb, apathetic, and hollowed out, because it makes no difference to you whether you continue on to tomorrow or CTB now.

 

[EvisceratedJester]

I thought emotions are for animals.

Well, we are animals...

 

[Havnis]

Well, we are animals...

As anti humanist I disagree with any assumption about us.

 

[EvisceratedJester]

As anti humanist I disagree with any assumption about us.

I don't know what that means, I'm just saying that from a biological perspective we are animals. That is the taxonomic kingdom we are a part of.

 

[Havnis]

I don't know what that means, I'm just saying that from a biological perspective we are animals. That is the taxonomic kingdom we are a part of.

I reject that

 

[EvisceratedJester]

I reject that

Okay then, that doesn't mean anything. It's basic biology at the end of the day, not some philosophical shit or whatever. Taxonomic categorization is the grouping of different organisms based on shared traits and relatedness. It's a reflection of evolutionary relationships and has nothing to do with philosophy...


So, objectively, we are animals.

 

[Ah.ow]

is this like, not feel and harm others, vs feel and get harmed by others?

though, not feeling is something hard to conceptualize, because people who are cruel are feeling, they don't fool me with their trying to seem calm

 

[Havnis]

Okay then, that doesn't mean anything. It's basic biology at the end of the day, not some philosophical shit or whatever. Taxonomic categorization is the grouping of different organisms based on shared traits and relatedness. It's a reflection of evolutionary relationships and has nothing to do with philosophy...


So, objectively, we are animals.

Nah, best discribtion of us now is cyborgs, we are literally integrated with technology we can't live without it, the idea of anti humanism of reject the static definition of humanity is plausibly valid, we are changing. Read " cyborg manifesto" by Donna Haraway

 

[EvisceratedJester]

Nah, best discribtion of us now is cyborgs, we are literally integrated with technology we can't live without it, the idea of anti humanism of reject the static definition of humanity is plausibly valid, we are changing. Read " cyborg manifesto" by Donna Haraway

What? Whatever dude.

 

[HighFlight]

I reject that

Discussion and disagreement is good, but please make sure you're contributing positively to the thread. Comments like these are just baiting other members.

 

[crystal_meth97]

As a person with BPD, I already feel emotions, both good and bad, very intensely and it can be beautiful, as weird as that may sound. I would never choose to be emotionally flattened, life would seem really meaningless and dull and even less worth living. I'd rather feel negative things intensely, at least I could feel something and as twisted as that may sounds, sometimes feeling even negative things intensely makes me feel alive and human. Can it make me suicidal and exhaust me? Sure. But it still keeps me going.

 

[enough of this]

The latter. At least I have something to work with, and some direction to go from there.

 

[sserafim]

I thought emotions are for animals.

Hey xinino