Therapist Focusing on Depression
My wife and I have been talking to a therapist about working on our connection. We've been together for a long time and we really love each other, but somewhere in the hustle and bustle of busy careers and kids we lost that person to person connection.
The therapist very early on picked up that I don't process "feelings" in a way that most people do. My own therapist had already identified my alexithymia - I can describe my emotions and feelings in great detail with vibrant metaphors, but I cannot feel them in my body. I get that "pit in stomach" feeling with stress, but that's it.
When I shared this with her, she immediately locked on to, "Well you're clearly depressed." I told her no - I'm not - I dealt with depression a long time ago and what I experience today is very different. I shared that my son is on the ASD spectrum, that I very likely am as well, and that this is a very common condition with ASD. She also said she was not aware of Alexithymia, which was a major red flag for me - but hey, who we use is not really my call. She (kind of) apologized for jumping to a conclusion, but it seemed very ... insincere.
Now, whenever my "lack of feeling" comes up (which is somehow every single time), she attributes it to some locked-away traumas and/or depression. She has tried to talk me into SSRIs, I keep telling her I am not depressed but she doesn't seem to accept it.
Has anyone else been in a similar situation? How did you handle it? Personally, I don't see why it's a problem that I can describe my thoughts and emotions in great detail rather than "feel" them.