Flat Affect
Flat Affect
I haven’t decided what I’m going to do with this particular matter.
I came across a person with what is technically referred to as, flat affect. The blend of an unchanging, blunted facial expression.
As an example, a person said to me,
“I’m going to give you a second chance to apologize.”
Knowing that there was potential mental illness afoot, I had seen this before with my father. Dad’s vascular dementia, not the forgetful one, the easily triggered to rage one, called flat affect.
Flat affect can be brought on by medication, sadness or depression, schizophrenia and being somewhere on the autism or Aspergers spectrum. Flat effect or inability to express micro expressions is easy to detect if you are vigilant. Not so easy to recognize in an enjoyable social setting. Flat affect is a sign someone could rage without warning. They justify themselves by being triggered from an outside source; you.
This parcel of information is on a warning sign that a person with a flat effect is prone to violence about 58% of the time versus normal public about 19%. Be prepared to duck. Inform your loved ones, parents and children, be hyper vigilant.
My existence on planet Earth has triggered people. I have done OK. Now that I am older, I have no debt. Making friends has always been easy for me. Enjoying a good story is not a crime for me. People who display flat affect are grievance collectors who wish to subjugate with the threat of you triggering them. Jordan Peterson says. “Be careful with who you share good news.”
There is a a German word; schadenfreude: enjoyment obtained from the troubles of others. Flat affect people can be proficient but spiky. They blow unexpectedly. Neurodivergent men and women are important contributors to society. The hyperfixation on you can be unsettling because they mask their next move. Thriving on chaos they create, they are mind blind, the inability to intuit the thoughts and emotions of others. A consequence of past trauma mind blindness creates a time bomb of character assignation at the least.
I protect myself by not being a shrink and understanding their needs are beyond my ability to provide help. My tolerance comes in the form of observing after seeing the flat affect.
