Emotional Memory Loss

[Stitch]

I don't know how common this is, but it's something I've noticed in bits and pieces over the years and it became glaring obvious to me this past week. I can get extremely frustrated with someone, but it seems like after I sleep at night all that emotion disappears. I'm able to remember the situation and the fact that I was definitely angry, and I still want to be angry about it, but for some reason I can't call up the emotion again. It's as if I have emotional short-term memory loss. Does this make sense to anyone else?

 

[Mia]

Often, I'll be unable to recall the reason I was upset, the actual instance that caused me to feel some kind of emotion. Usually if it's a negative emotion I seem to forget overnight why I was upset. Unless I make a point of recalling all that was said or happened and then reasoning it out. But I have to make a serious effort to do so.

Later I might recall instances of similar emotional upsets, that seem like a pattern. But only during those seemingly familiar or related situations.

 

[Graphin]

Yes
This happens to me often with strong feelings
I think this is the reason I got away "lightly" with being towed into a disco for 4 hours

 

[rollerskate]

I have noticed that when something bad happens, I tend to disassociate. Even when someone is just yelling at me, it overloads, and I shut down through disassociation, so I quite often can't remember what they said. It happens during conversations, too, if their pitch is all wrong or they talk too fast etc.

 

[Streetwise]

I don't know how common this is, but it's something I've noticed in bits and pieces over the years and it became glaring obvious to me this past week. I can get extremely frustrated with someone, but it seems like after I sleep at night all that emotion disappears. I'm able to remember the situation and the fact that I was definitely angry, and I still want to be angry about it, but for some reason I can't call up the emotion again. It's as if I have emotional short-term memory loss. Does this make sense to anyone else?

I wonder if the autistic brain connects to panic (is the connection between emotion and the primal brain (panic),which is at the place where the brain connects to the neck ,better known as the brainstem )more naturally than the neuro typical brain ,that is are we like other animals who view the world differently from neuro typicals, it has made me think about the Bower bird in Australia ,who arranges gifts for its prospective mate ,in definite piles and is distressed if there is any change to the gift, like if they begin to grow fungus.
One of the definite characteristics of autism is arranging things in piles,autistic people must be the connection between animals and neuro typicals.

 

[Theta.G]

The emotional refractory period.

 

[Tom]

Its a well known phenomemon, for people (ASD & NT) and generally considered a useful process. A good sleep removes the emotional component. Hence the sayings 'Let me sleep on it' and 'The night brings counsel'.

 

[Fino]

YES! And it's very problematic! It's part of what allowed me to stay in abusive relationships and friendships for so long. I've never heard it described before.