Dear Ryan:

I just submitted a post to another member who I believe have a lot in common with you. I think that you will find it very interesting to read his threads, particularly his subjective emotional experience of life. Both of you experienced lots of that flat emotional experience that you mentioned, rarely any joy, most of the time was either distress (sometimes acute distress) or that flat, dull affect.

I understand more today than ever before, that the lack of joy is about not feeling connected to another person. For a social animal, such as a human, joy is in connecting and feeling connected to another person. To live while not feeling connected to another person is equivalent to living in a prison cell of sorts, the experience within that prison cell is a combination of distress and flatness, but rarely is there any joy. The rare joy you experienced some time ago was when you felt connected to the woman your thread is about.

If you want to read the post I submitted to the other member, just before submitting this post to you, click on my name and you will find that post, plus the member’s threads.

anita