Emotionless or in-affectionate?

I have a hypothesis and I want to ask your opinions of it. (I'm going to do some vast generalizations here based on my own experience. When I say "We" I'm speaking from my own experience)

We aren't emotionless, we just lack affection. We don't form bonds with things, we don't care about things, which is why we don't have anything to feel emotions over. It's not that we can't feel, it's that we have nothing to feel for.

Love is affection for another being. We don't feel affection, so we don't feel love. When someone dies or goes away, we don't feel sad, because we don't have a bond with them. We don't feel hatred when our family is hurt by others, because we don't share their pain. We often don't even fear death, because we don't feel affection towards our lives either.

However, we do feel frustrated with things. We feel frustration, because it's origin isn't in bonding. It's about things not working as they should, and it's annoying, and because it not about bonding, we can feel it. We may also feel hatred, if we are physically attacked in an unreasonable manner. Someone is a dick and making us uncomfortable with his dickness, and it angers us, because it's not about bond, it sources from frustration.

I can even feel sadness in a certain situation (for background, I became schizoid because of environment). My another hypothesis is that people can only understand feelings they have felt before or if they can imagine the situation. Meaning, you can understand what losing a loved one feels like if you have felt it before, or by imagining what it would be like if someone close to you would die. Because no one died when I still felt love, I can't understand the feeling today, because I don't have a loved one now. However, when by some impetus (music or certain phrases) I go back to the days when I felt all alone as a kid, I become so sad I feel sick.
If I didn't have emotions, I shouldn't be able to feel that sadness, right?

So, what do you think? If you disagree strongly, perhaps I'm not schizoid after all, but I've developed some form of autism or something instead.

Professori wrote:We don't form bonds with things, we don't care about things, which is why we don't have anything to feel emotions over. It's not that we can't feel, it's that we have nothing to feel for.

I'd agree with this... I feel like it's important to remember that Schizoids aren't insane. We can empathize. We can care about humans (the same way we commonly care about animals). I often find a reoccurring sentiment that Schizoids can't bond with people. We choose not to spend our time with people cause it's not comfortable or enjoyable. It's possible, but it just doesn't happen often.

I can't understand the feeling today, because I don't have a loved one now. However, when by some impetus (music or certain phrases) I go back to the days when I felt all alone as a kid, I become so sad I feel sick. If I didn't have emotions, I shouldn't be able to feel that sadness, right?

I was also isolated (literally and socially) as a child. If you didn't have emotions, you wouldn't feel lonely. We do feel lonely. But from my own personal experience, I adopted a personality to help me deal with isolation. I just didn't let myself enjoy relationships and now the cost of forming them outweighs the value.

@OP: Makes sense to me.

Professori wrote:If you disagree strongly, perhaps I'm not schizoid after all, but I've developed some form of autism or something instead.

I don't think autism is something you can develop.

It actually could make sense. I laugh. I get frustrated. I even get sad once in awhile. So it isn't exactly accurate to say I'm emotionless. Restrained emotion is arguable.

I see no fault in your reasoning. Although I believe that the blame falls partially to the restricted capacity for emotion a schizoid has too.

Professori wrote:It's not that we can't feel, it's that we have nothing to feel for.

"I'm not emotionless, It's just that almost nothing triggers my emotions."
I always say this, but Is there a difference?

Anepsios wrote:I see no fault in your reasoning. Although I believe that the blame falls partially to the restricted capacity for emotion a schizoid has too.

I think some here were probably born with reduced emotional capacity, while others probably were born with average or even higher than average emotional capacity but stopped using it at some point (or, more likely, gradually).

I wouldn't say I'm emotionless. My emotions are just incredibly dulled.

Well, you could be on to something, though it still doesn't explain why schizoids are able to feel so many negative emotions, including those that are linked to social interaction - like anxiety. By your definition, anxiety is linked with bonding - fear of how others who you are connected with will judge you etc.

I personally don't experience fear, anxiety, sadness and possibly no other negative emotions, save boredom and irritation (stronger irritation phases can be called anger if you wish to do so).

Then again, my spd dx happened a lifetime ago and I sincerely believe it to be a misdiagnosis on the part of my old shrink, mostly influenced by me hiding a lot of things from him.

I "feel" i can relate to this; i haven't been able to feel love or affection for people and i didn't care when family members died, but i clearly remember that i could empathize with the characters of some novel(maybe because they felt more "real" and interesting or because i felt i would have enjoyed experienced that... i no longer know how to put it into words). Now i don't even feel that.

The only "emotions" that always accompanied have been frustration and anger, and i've started losing them as well.

Moreover, the more i try to rationalize and put logic on things, the less inclined i am to feel anything. My past self was more moderate when it came to rationalize: now i've totally been swallowed by the need to rationalize everything. I'm tired of thinking and over-analyzing things, but i can't stop either.

I've lately been inclined to think that those emotions were never there and that they were just an illusion. But, seriously, this is huge of a denial.

As i stated in another topic, the only thing that is keeping me alive is music, because some of those songs are associated to my past memories, when i still felt something, and they remind me that i was able to feel, eventually recalling some of those past emotions (even tho in a less effective way).

It's like i entered a dormant state... that's what i want to think.

Professori wrote:We aren't emotionless, we just lack affection. We don't form bonds with things, we don't care about things, which is why we don't have anything to feel emotions over. It's not that we can't feel, it's that we have nothing to feel for.

Maybe it's the same. If you are capable of feeling you'll find something to feel for. I am passionate about some things, completely flat about others.