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Comment by cwbrandsma | Hacker News Reader

I cry so little my wife had me tested for Aspergers...and she was right. I tear up about once a year at most. Most of the time when I do start to get overwhelmed my first reaction is "WTF IS THIS?" and beat it down like a $2 mule. It isn't that I'm completely without emotions, but I really do have less than "normal" people.

Anyway, nice to hear about the experiences of others.

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I don't think I've got Asperger's, but I also have a sort of instinctual reaction to clamp down on any emotion that deviates too far from a standard flavor of okay-ness. Not sure where that comes from. Sometimes jealous of people who seem capable of those big emotional responses.

WHEEE! 8-)

    > I cry so little my wife had me tested for
    > Aspergers...and she was right. I tear up about once a
    > year at most

It's important to not conflate crying with feeling strong emotion. I was clinically depressed for a year and cried a sum total of once during that time.

Speaking of Pixar cartoons, I thought the way that Inside Out presented depression as the absence of both joy and sadness was really telling. I don't know if it's always true, but it seems like often depression doesn't even allow you to feel cathartic sadness, only a miserable numbness.

Speaking as someone with Asperger; I think Asperger is not about having less emotions than neurotypical persons but more about the trouble expressing those emotions to others or even oneself.

I don't think I have Aspergers... but same here. I cry maybe once a year. Reading this thread makes me think, I'm some kind of heartless robot.

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