How to feelings???

[resolute]

Apparently many people can identify that they are having a feeling by noticing changes in their body. I mean, obviously, yes, extreme emotion breaks through intended rational affect in this way, of course. But I'm not talking about that, I mean, like, people can both notice and IDENTIFY very slight emotions.

Is there a key? A cheat sheet? A guide? Some sort of spreadsheet or data set or, or, I don't know, a sticker-bedecked vision board? Something, ANYTHING, that just lists out physical symptoms and matches them with the correct emotion?

You know, like:

Eyebrows are itchy = mild sadness resulting from listening to music
Fingers are restless = slight interest in surrounding events
Spontaneous rapid blinking = growing vexation

I beg of you, if you know of a key, please link to it in the comments. I feel that everyone else has a map, and I have a faded vellum scroll with tiny marks on it and no way to interpret them.

Comments

[naomikritzer]

So. I sometimes realize that I am feeling shame or embarrassment because my face flushes.

But then I started having hot flashes and it took me a while to realize that when my face would flush, my brain would start casting around for something I might have just said or done that was embarrassing. I had to explicitly tell myself, THIS IS A HOT FLASH, I AM NOT EMBARRASSED, I AM HAVING A HOT FLASH.

(I also ordered myself some black cohosh gummies and that fixed it, at least for now.)

Re: FWIW

[resolute]

Yeah, my face flushes anytime there is increased circulation in my body. Exertion, enjoyment or excitement, anger, anxiety, whatever. Not a reliable signal of ANYTHING other than an increase in blood flow to my skin.

Dangit.

[ellen_fremedon]

Similarly, when my heart rate shoots up quickly and I become conscious of my pulse in places I usually don't feel it (hands, ears), it usually tells me I'm having a panic attack... or that I'm exercising, in which case my brain starts casting around for things to panic over and usually finds one. Knowing that this happens means I can talk myself out of it some of the time, if my ambient anxiety isn't at a very high level, but if it is I have to trick myself into cardio with long walks or something else that gets my heart rate up very slowly.

So, yeah, in my experience physical sensations aren't a reliable indicator that you are feeling an emotion, let alone which one.