Alexithymia and Autism: Why You Feel Everything and Name Nothing

There is an emotion wheel sitting on my desk. I used to sit with it with my children, trying to name what we were all feeling. I could find the simple words easily enough. But as we moved outward, toward the nuance, the gradations, the specific textures of feeling, I got lost. Completely and quietly lost.

If you recognise that experience, feeling deeply and intensely, and yet struggling to locate or describe what is actually happening inside you, there is a name for it. It is called alexithymia. And if you are autistic or have ADHD, there is a significant chance it is part of your experience too.