- Hi, so in today's video,
it's a little bit more of an informal video
because I am experiencing a symptom today
that I wanted to share with you,
a little bit more of a realist depiction
about what it's like.
So the symptom that I'm experiencing today is flat affect,
or I guess blunted effect would probably be
more accurately describing what I'm experiencing.
I guess, first of all, blunted affect
or flat affect is a symptom of schizophrenia
and basically it's just when the emotional expression
that someone has is affected.
So it is reduced, it is blunted, it just appears very flat.
So Rob kind of pointed out to me initially
that he thought that something was off with me today.
I seemed like I was struggling and so he's like,
"Are you struggling?" and I was like,
"Well, I don't really think so."
But then we kind of made the connection
that I wasn't inwardly struggling.
I was feeling normal inwardly,
but I wasn't outwardly emoting at all
or communicating any emotion or affect at all
in my expression, in outward appearance.
And so we realized, hey,
I'm experiencing flattened effect today.
And so it might be helpful or useful
to kind of show that in this video.
And basically what it feels like, for me anyway,
is just that I am feeling normally inside,
I'm feeling everything kind of the way I would regularly,
but it feels like I can't
reflect that on my face
or in the expression of my emotions.
So I can force myself to smile right now, like,
but it feels very, it feels
like I'm just using muscle memory
to force my face into that,
it doesn't feel like I can genuinely
or naturally do that right now.
And so flat affect is something that I used
to experience a lot more.
If you look at some of our earlier videos on YouTube,
you can definitely tell that I had a flatter affect.
Even just my voice was less emotive
and my face was definitely less emotive.
And I think that actually having this YouTube channel
has really helped with developing the skill
of emoting through my voice and my face and whatnot,
even if I wasn't necessarily
feeling particularly emotive on my own.
So being used to being on camera
as well as figuring out the right medication balance
and just figuring out how to manage my illness more
has allowed me to be more expressive naturally
and to be more emotive and have less
of that flat or blunted affect.
But occasionally I have days like this
where I am experiencing blunted affect
and it can be a little bit frustrating
because I feel like I'm connecting less
with the people around me.
So, Rob even was like, "Oh, I don't like this."
He quickly corrected himself to be like,
"Well, it's not that I don't like you, I just, it feels,
it feels different and it's something we need
to adjust to and that's fine."
But it definitely feels like there is less of an ability
to connect with people because they're not
experiencing your emotion because you're not showing it.
And so yeah, I mean,
I can see how people
who have prolonged blunted or flat affect
have less kind of social connections
because it is definitely harder to connect
with other people when you can't display emotion
and connect with people on that level.
So I'm not sure if it's being conveyed
through this video that I do have
a flatter effect right now.
I think I'm kind of trying to be a little bit more emotive
because that's how I try to be on camera,
but I wanted to share a little bit more
of a realistic depiction of when I am experiencing
a symptom such as flat affect like today.
All right. So that is it for today.
Thank you for watching this little impromptu video clip
of me trying to convey what flat affect can be like.
Thanks for watching and wishing you
and your loved ones good health.
See in the next video, bye.