This is about... feelings(?)

Now, I am a rather odd individual in that, regardless of the situation I'm always acting out my emotions. By this I mean, I don't actually feel anything within a situation I just act and go along with it(Normally under the guise of a dark humoured individual). I have been contemplating various ideas, items and situations in which may spark an actual feeling(I am also aware that, even through contemplation I may not truly know what I may feel within the situation until actually thrust into it). (I am under the impression that the feeling one would have towards life comes from the heart or chest in this I have had feelings before but nothing that can be said to be euphoric or 'happy') Now, I wish to come to a better understanding about myself and hope that anyone who reads this may throw out ideas and theories relating to the lack or suppression of emotional responses as well as any possible personal experiences on the issues at hand.

I was also wondering if there was a possibility that a person can simply lack the ability to love or feel compassion towards another human being. I have recently had a conversation with a fried of mine who has similar personality traits but has been able to stay in a relationship for an extended period of time, she also has a bit of a background in psychology with me so we occasionally have conversations about such things, and one of the ideas she brought up to explain my lack of ability to form lasting relationships, romantic or not, was that I lacked the ability to 'love' as it were. So, as I don't particularly understand the word itself and the meanings thrown at me from dictionaries and encyclopedias truly do not help me comprehend this stuff in any way, I was hoping someone could also help me to understand this as well.

TL;DR:
List of things that make you feel happy/sad/scared/etc
Ideas/theories on individuals with suppressed emotional responses
Example and explanation of 'love'
Whether or not it is possible for someone to be incapable of loving

Also feel free to throw out any personal qualms you have with your own mind or mentality/personality and everyone can pitch in and give each other different points of view on various situations. You never know one persons point of view may be life changing.

I can see where you're coming from, over the past few years I've felt like that I've been pretty emotionally unresponsive to my surroundings too. When my grandad died, I felt nothing. Went to see The Muppets movie yesterday, not even a smirk or a giggle. When someone's upset, I don't feel sad that they're bawling their eyes out, instead I just stand there wondering what the fuck to do. In fact it's very rare for me to feel anything, emotionally. Last time I laughed, genuinely, besides today (after browsing wheresmysammich.com) was a week ago.

I'm going to keep watching this thread, because I'm curious to know as well.

[color=#2e1a6b]I think our feelings are directly related to our perception of the people or things we care about. If we perceive something positive happening to someone or something we care about, we experience positive emotions. The same applies to negative things. So now the question is what makes us "care" about something or someone...

I think you care about someone or something by deciding that he/she/it is of importance to yourself. The criteria for importance varies from each individual; some might value entertainment, some might value beauty, etc. Sometimes we can't really figure out why we care for someone; this only applies to people, not things. I don't know what it is, where it comes from, or where it goes, but we call it love: the emotion that makes us human.

Emotions are a chemical response that your body makes for some reason. So you apparently lack that chemical response which I shouldn't say is weird, but in America is quite normal.

There are many times where my emotions doesn't respond to much of anything at all, even when someone died it wouldn't even phase me.

I just act most of the times to keep the flow going and not making people feel dumb when they see me all quiet.

I can just say this.... almost nothing in this world interests me anymore because maybe it is because I have knowledge of it, or maybe it is too difficult to understand, but whatever the reason is, I just don't find it amusing to express my feelings anymore, or I rather don't feel at all anymore.

My guess is I am just a picky person to who I wanna express my feelings to, even in anime I laugh hard at it and sometimes no.

I just wanna find that spark that makes me express my feelings like a hyperactive fapper on fakku. You can't express your feelings at will ( my assumption) and cry your heart out. Maybe there are just a few things out there that amuses me.

I'm similar, I think it's probably because you're not emotionally invested in the situation at hand, that's why you wouldn't have the emotional response people would expect. To be honest there's only a handful of people/things I actually care about in life. I'm not being hateful or contrary, I just don't care about much else. With me things only go into two columns, personal interests or other.

Man everyone is on some Darker Than Black stuff in here...

Jokes aside if you do not get emotional it is for number of reasons. It could be chemicals, frequency related, or you just do not give a damn anout a certain situation...

I personally feel it does not make you unresponsive I mean how can it be unresponsive if it is not a geniune emotion.

Example Whitney Houston's death sure I knew about her and her music however did I REALLY know her? The short answer is no...

That being said there should be no geniune emotion...

I rather be geniune about my emotions then having to play some melodrama music to make me feel sad...

Like it was stated in Black Lagoon "Honesty is wonderful. Hypocrisy rots this world..."

I've been like this since child.
Not sensitive. Wouldn't say no emotion cause I still do feel angry, sad, pissed, happy sometimes.
But when it comes to empathy, probably it will be -10.

I have to agree with what a lot of people said, and your perspective on it has a minor influence as well. I've felt like this, but I'm sure a lot of people have. Last time I ever felt something was sadness, and that was after I finished Clannad a while back. Still, people are different, but I'm sure you feel emotion, you just don't respond to it, meaning that you don't act on it, like most people do. And that's fine.

I've been emotionaly *dead* for some years now. My aunt found out she has cancer and I didn't even react. Now everyone thinks I'm a heartless douche

This is really a complicated case here.

Maybe it has something to do with personality as well.

I am an emotional character who feels alot for people, animals, situations, and even shows, but I guess they were just the stuff I CHOSE to express my feelings too.

Some emotions can get outta hand a little bit and then there is some cases where you can't control them at all. When I get pissed I scream my head off, and when I see something sad I cry my tears out till I feel satisfied.

This isn't a case of psychological disorder or mental illness or anything, I guess it's just based on their individuality.

Love is a similar case here. You choose to open up and express your feelings, tell your partner everything you know and how you feel about the world, and hope she understands you. Also people have specific expectations from another person in order for them to open up and become normal.

It is capable to love and open, like some people say, " Love is indescribable, it opens you up in ways you never thought was possible."

Deadened emotions could indicate that you are in some way tired, experienced trauma or have been through so many things that you simply feel that you have seen it all; therefore giving you the feeling that nothing can really give you a jolt.

About myself, I've had a rather turbulent past, growing up in several different countries, meeting many new races of people, moving from place to place, never having solid ground to stand upon. In the end, it came down to this in my mind. Why the hell should I bother to know anyone at all? I mean I'm just going to end up saying goodbye to him in what a few months? Why bother? It feels so painful to say goodbye EVERY FEW MONTHS that I eventually stopped caring about making friends. Don't get me wrong though, I am actually a very compassionate guy and will try to help people as long as it's in my power to do so. But after that, I just disappear. I don't really like to know anyone skin-deep and as a result, I'm a rather introverted guy. Guess it comes from a primal fear of loss, but then again I prefer solitude but not loneliness. My version of solitude usually means being alone in my room satisfied with the knowledge that someone is nearby. Heck even my college professor said I'm a walking bag of contradictions.

I can be as talkative and active as any other guy; but that's just acting. The real me is an emotionally repressed/dead guy who really doesn't feel anything very much. Probably the only reason why I'm kind or compassionate is because of my Christian upbringing.

To wrap it up, I would say this song represents me well.

Love is a chemical reaction within the brain that causes humans to link together socially and procreate gratuitously, despite the latter behavior already being reinforced by the orgasm. Without love, society as we know it would not exist. All people are capable of love, but certain afflictions (in this case, I'm thinking of depression) can make it harder to love others or oneself because they lower levels of oxytocin and endogenous morphine, the primary ingredients in the love reaction.

tl;dr: you're probably depressed. If you can, try to get out of the slump. If it gets worse, seek professional help.

I can completely relate to you. I have a hard time feeling anything at all most of the time. To be honest, it becomes very boring not feeling anything, am I right? Anyway, what I do to at least feel something is push the limits. What I mean by this is [now don't over do it though!], is that I like to push people and push myself. I push my limits physically and I push people emotionally. In my own experiences with this, it's quite amusing. To be amused is much better than being bored.

As the previous post says, you might be depressed however. In order to fix this, I'd say go into therapy. You don't have to be crazy to go, I promise. If they realize you really are depressed and if you're honest with them, you will most likely be able to get medication. Once this is accomplished, trust me, eventually you WILL be able to feel. It will be like a rush of emotions you've never felt before. It might be hard to comprehend some of them, but eventually you will become accustomed to them and begin to enjoy them. However medication takes time to adjust you're chemical [in]balances. So if this is the case, please be patient if this is the path you go down.

Just perk up a bit. Let loose and try not to be uptight. Acting your emotions can become tiresome. If you find you're an uptight kind of person, honestly, try and loosen up. You just might feel something.