I have emotions. Some of them anyway. Anger, Fear, Sad, Shame/guilt.

Some are blunted. I can do the intellectual side of some of hte forms of love, but have never fallen in love. I know excitement, but not joy. Contentment. Not sure about happiness. But love as a strong emotion, grief, anguish. Just names on my dance card.

But often I hear people talk about emotional pain. And this puzzles me. One gal decribed as being worse that giving birth without painkillers. While emotions can be uncomfortable -- like heaveweight new jeans on a summer day, or the sound of fingernails on the blackboard, emotions are never painful like a burn blister, or hitting my thumb with a hammer.

The stuff I'm reading about trauma talks about dissociatimg to avoid overwhelming emotional pain. Or about emotional blunting.

Often I experience an emotion and a meta-emotion at the same time. E.g. I can feel anger/outrage on someone's behalf in a movie, book, or real life. And I may feel righteous about that anger.

I can feel sad about something. Alongside that sadness is a feeling of quiet contentment/acceptance. "This is my lot" I can be afraid of something, and determined to do it anyway.

Now some of these can be parts/alters.

Anyway, Why don't I feel emotional pain the way other people seem to?