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Wondergirl · Aug 1, 2013, 04:20 PM

Can you tell stories out loud (rather than write them), for instance, when babysitting?

yttrium · Aug 1, 2013, 04:28 PM

Here I'm not really naming or expressing emotions using words. I'm saying I love this or hate that but that's not really naming what I feel, I'm just trying to describe events and causes and effects (for example writing assignment, unnamed emotion, and crying) and trying to avoid actually describing feelings.
Also it changes depending on how much pressure I am under, so "you have 45 minutes to write a paper about how love is portrayed in Shakespeare" actually made me cry just from thinking about having to do it the next day.

And it doesn't matter whether I am talking or writing, just that it is with words.

Wondergirl · Aug 1, 2013, 04:33 PM

Originally Posted by yttrium

And it doesn't matter whether I am talking or writing, just that it is with words.

Has any psychologist or psychiatrist given you the T.A.T.

yttrium · Aug 1, 2013, 04:39 PM

No and I don't think it would make any difference in whether I put things into words because it would be just like writing a story which always has a bunch of feelings in it and even though they may not be expressed directly they are still expressed in words.

Wondergirl · Aug 1, 2013, 04:42 PM

Originally Posted by yttrium

No and I don't think it would make any difference in whether I put things into words because it would be just like writing a story which always has a bunch of feelings in it and even though they may not be expressed directly they are still expressed in words.

Do you know what the T.A.T. is? It would be a very good indicator of how things play out for you.

yttrium · Aug 1, 2013, 04:47 PM

Yes it's the Thematic Apperception Test. And I know exactly how it would play out: I would say nothing and then start crying.

Wondergirl · Aug 1, 2013, 04:58 PM

Originally Posted by yttrium

Yes it's the Thematic Apperception Test. And I know exactly how it would play out: I would say nothing and then start crying.

I would show you three pictures and ask for three sentences each. That's all. None of them are loaded with emotion and can be responded to unemotionally. No crying would be necessary.

yttrium · Aug 1, 2013, 05:09 PM

I cried when I was asked to write 1 sentence that used a certain set of words under a time limit. It wouldn't seem to have emotion but there was more than one way to write the sentence and there wasn't an obvious answer. And I cried when I was asked to list different kinds of food under a time limit. The time limit created a lot more pressure but the TAT seems scary even without a time limit. It has infinite possible answers and none of them are obvious or normal or right so whatever I say will have feelings in it.

Wondergirl · Aug 1, 2013, 05:15 PM

Originally Posted by yttrium

I cried when I was asked to write 1 sentence that used a certain set of words under a time limit. It wouldn't seem to have emotion but there was more than one way to write the sentence and there wasn't an obvious answer. And I cried when I was asked to list different kinds of food under a time limit. The time limit created a lot more pressure but the TAT seems scary even without a time limit. It has infinite possible answers and none of them are obvious or normal or right so whatever I say will have feelings in it.

The T.A.T. can be responded to as emotionally or as unemotionally as one wishes.

It doesn't sound like emotion has much to do with your writing. Something else seems to be going on.

Zea · Aug 1, 2013, 05:18 PM

PET can be used to detect brain disorders (ex- alexithymia). Just ask someone who knows, if you can take a PET test.

yttrium · Aug 1, 2013, 05:19 PM

Give me one example of how you could respond to the TAT in a factual and objective manner.

Wondergirl · Aug 1, 2013, 05:19 PM

Originally Posted by yttrium

Give me one example of how you could respond to the TAT in a factual and objective manner.

Give me a picture suggestion as an example.(Just briefly describe one of them in a couple of words -- I know them all.)

yttrium · Aug 1, 2013, 05:25 PM

Here's an online TAT. TAT
And the instructions say "Try to portray who the people might be, what they are feeling, thinking, and wishing" which is completely non-objective and would definitely require writing something that has feelings in it.

Wondergirl · Aug 1, 2013, 05:26 PM

Originally Posted by yttrium

And the instructions say "Try to portray who the people might be, what they are feeling, thinking, and wishing" which is completely non-objective and would definitely require writing something that has feelings in it.

But that is not what I would ask you to do. I'd ask you for three objective sentences in two minutes or less.

yttrium · Aug 1, 2013, 05:28 PM

Well, what is your objective and factual 3-sentence answer to that picture?

Wondergirl · Aug 1, 2013, 05:30 PM

That picture has been thrown out, by the way.

Two women are in a lab. One is testing something. The other is watching her.

yttrium · Aug 1, 2013, 05:42 PM

All right, if I can be that objective, I'll see if I can do it.

By the way what do you think is the "something else going on" that you mentioned earlier?

yttrium · Aug 1, 2013, 05:43 PM

Originally Posted by Zea

PET can be used to detect brain disorders (ex- alexithymia). Just ask someone who knows, if you can take a PET test.

Who would be the person that knows?

Wondergirl · Aug 1, 2013, 05:45 PM

Let me ask you this -- if I showed you three T.A.T. pictures and asked you to come up with three objective sentences in one minute for each one, what would happen?

yttrium · Aug 1, 2013, 06:07 PM

I guess I would be really nervous. But I can't predict the outcome. There is a chance that I could start crying but that might depend on the individual picture. Some pictures have less obvious answers than others and sometimes if there are multiple answers that might work but none of them are good then I would start crying.