Help A Teen With His Emotions..

[B_T_Z]

Hey everyone, hope everyone is well! I’m new here, and I wanted to see if y’all could give me some advice. I’m someone who struggles to clearly tell how I feel: almost as if I forget that I feel.. so, I thought there might be some ways for me to remind myself that I do in fact feel. Anyone have any suggestions on how I can remind myself that I have emotions to process, and how can I better understand them? Thank y’all!

[thara9643]

diary

[B_T_Z in reply to thara9643]

Thank you for the suggestion

[gilded_masquerade]

I agree that a diary/journal is an effective way to get in touch with your feelings. If that doesn’t appeal to you, I used to make videos on my laptop that I kept just for me, talking about anything and everything and then watch it back whenever I felt up to it. It’s not only a great outlet but it’s a good way to see what’s changed since you’ve made them, what you’ve learned and so on. I thought it was a very helpful tool.

Either way, I hope you find something that helps.

Take care 🖤

[B_T_Z in reply to gilded_masquerade]

You have no idea how helpful that is, thank you so much; definitely trying that. Never thought of videos before

[gilded_masquerade in reply to B_T_Z]

Glad to have been of some help 😌

Take care 🖤

[Hb2003]

Your the same age as me ☺️ Therapy can help a lot lots of kindness and support- Hiba

[TLNicole]

Hello you can place different affirmations on a mirror and read them each day

[Otaku12]

I used to feel the same way as you, I felt like I had no emotions, like nothing really mattered to me. I've found that fictional things (movies, tv shows, books) have helped me to discover my emotions. For some reason things in real life that were sad and should make someone cry didn't make me cry. But when I watched a sad movie I balled like a baby. I think works of fiction helped me because emotions are always heightened in dramatic works, and characters tend to be more expressive of their emotions than real life people. I feel like as a society we tend to suppress and deny our emotions so it becomes natural to us to not acknowledge and process our emotions. Personally, I like watching anime because they are full of emotion and since it is animated, even more emotion can be displayed than what live action movies and shows can do. If you have Netflix, I highly recommend watching Violet Evergarden, that show made me cry so hard so many times, but afterwards I felt some much better and more in tune with my emotions because I was able to express them but also process them using the show as a guide. Hope this helped in some way!

[propjock in reply to Otaku12]

I agree that art of any kind—visual, performing—can really touch us and shake things loose.

[Rafiki11]

I think it could be helpful to understand why this is a struggle for you.

For example, sometimes people who have autism find this challenging.

People who have experienced trauma.

People whose mother did not comfort them, see them, hear them, and mirror them.

[propjock]

I’ve had to learn to be quiet, be aware, and listen. Notice little body sensations. Am I tensing up somewhere? Is my heart racing or thudding? Am I holding my breath? That demystified “feelings” a little. I didn’t learn much emotional vocabulary growing up. How do we even learn the names for emotions, really? Someone gave me something like a color wheel, with the main categories near the middle, and then more nuanced words as you go out. That helped.

[Stobban]

Yea, When your young all your emotions are sorting themselves out in a way that they are deciding who you really are. We all go thru' this in our teens but happily you'll soon realise who you really are. In the meantime take advice, but the real you will soon find what you've learned. So enjoy your young life; remember, you never get another chance to be young. All the best.

[Hb2003]

Your welcome 😄

[Ashquaffle]

I have always struggled and I found my vice through reading and writing. When you're reading (fiction of course) you enter a new world. It helps you to feel, if not for yourself then for your character. The more you experience these feelings, the more you recognise them within yourself.

With writing, a diary/journal is great but sometimes its hard to keep up and actually write in it. I found that sometimes I just need to get it all out so I tried poetry. It helps immensely and then you see a physical manifestation of what was on your mind. You can save them and go back and reflect on them and where you were at that point in time.

I hope this helps!

[Ashquaffle]

Anything interesting really. I'm more inclined to fantasy so it's no surprise that the Harry Potter series is my all-time favourite. I found Dan Brown's Robert Langdon series is a close second and I finished all of the Percy Jackson books in less than two weeks. I'm currently reading the Throne of Glass series but recently finished A Court of Thorns and Roses.

What about you?

[Ashquaffle]

Yeah she's great! What else do you read?

[Ashquaffle]

That's really great. I'm currently studying International Business but I did my A Levels in the Social Sciences. You should definitely read Dan Brown's books; they're amazingly intricate and full of conspiracy theories!

[Ashquaffle]

I'm in love with The Da Vinci Code but I did do the Angels and Demons tour in Rome - it was brilliant! Is it a good read? I might give it a go. International Business is great, I'm learning Spanish alongside it to help with the whole working abroad thing. Wood carvings etc aren't really common around here but they do have their own charm!

[Ashquaffle]

Thank you! It's nice to hear that. I found that keeping myself busy was the best way to stop depression episodes (I know it isn't the healthiest option but I needed an out) so I did everything I could to learn as much as possible.

That sounds really impressive! It must have been expensive to ship it back regardless

😅. I was really interested in business psychology but my course was focused on mental health (for my case study on depression I presented myself 😅). That sounds like so much fun, you've figured a way to get the best of both! Good luck with more exploring!

[TangledUpIn]

Aww, you should have bought the comics😗

[TangledUpIn]

Oh my gosh! I too fell in love with wooden carvings when I went to Africa🥰 Beautiful beautiful beautiful pieces.

[Ashquaffle]

Oh really? I can understand that - finance is the bane of my life. I've always struggled a little with math 😅. Psychology is definitely more interesting and it seems like you really enjoyed it so that's great! Business has always been something that I've just understood and it comes to me easily (which is helpful) but that's really good! Have you considered taking the last couple of classes to do the exam? It would be a shame to do all of that work and not have the accreditation at the end but if not, I get it. It's hard when you do so much to keep yourself busy. I've been trying to learn how to play the guitar and keyboard but it's difficult to find time in-between all the other stuff.

I found that meditation helps a lot, I'm lucky where if I'm in a situation, I'm so used to pretending I'm okay that I can make it through the day and then have my meltdown when I'm home and alone. I use my 'keep busy' attitude to make sure people only see what I want them to see; I hold a number of roles for my cohort and within the faculty just so I can control my image for others in educational and professional situations.

What kind of comics were they? I've read a few but I usually stick to the Marvel films if I'm honest! You have a lot more self control than I, if it were me, I'd have bought them!

[Ashquaffle]

Ah so you're more of a DC fan? I find the Marvel films are great but the DC TV series are always better. Winnie the Pooh has been my favourite since before I can remember! I still have my Pooh teddy bear and he goes everywhere with me. You've got great taste in comics haha