I seem to have zero emotional response.
This really seems to creep out family and friends.
I’m actually less violent and socially isolated than most of my immediate circle(not saying much though 
I have no desire to chop women up or make lamp shades out of human skin,or consume human flesh(hell i don’t even eat pork or beef).
And it has come in handy,when me and a relative found a family member who had OD’d,he just seemed shocked and backed into a corner while i checked for a pulse and called EMS.
Its not related to depression,i’ve always been this way and i’m convinced i’m not depressed.
I’ve considered psychopathy,but i don’t feel the need to commit violent acts.
Everyone thinks i’m nuts but i’m not really bothered by it,anyone else feel that way?
You may want to think harder about the depression thing. I’d always thought I was just phlegmatic – turns out I’d been depressed for my entire life. It’s not always an extreme thing (can’t get out of bed, crying jags, etc.) – I’d always (well, almost always) been pretty functional (I did go into a pretty serious funk when my mother died).
I’ve been on antidepressants for almost 3 years, and, swear to god, it’s better living through chemistry. You won’t turn into some demented upbeat caricature of yourself – but life no longer sucks.
It’s a brain chemistry thing – often genetic – there’s a lot of bipolar disorder/depression/alcoholism on both sides of my family…
Seriously, you might want to talk to a mental health professional about this.
I agree with Twixter47 ; a flat “affect” is often emotional withdrawal, a sign of long-term depression. I once told my doc, “I am not suicidal, I don’t spend all day crying, but I can’t remember when I last had a good day.” He put me on antidepressants and life has been better since then.
The disclaimer: I’m not an MD, nor a therapist. I’m on the patient end of the stethoscope.
Apologies to Twickster47 for the phonetic misspelling. D’oh!
I’ve got kind of the opposite problem. When I’m with a bunch of people I tend to get really hyper. I always end up being the centre of attention, the “Life of the Party” syndrome. This is not always a good thing. I understand that I can be quite annoying. Even on the Boards I tend to want to jump in and post my not-so-humble-opinion, whether it’s completely appropriate or not. (sigh)
I’ve aways been like this and it actually made my life hell in elementry school. Kids don’t like people who are too “out there”. Of course as far as I was concerned, any attention was good. In highschool things finally escalated to the point where I had to transfer for my own safety.
Good luck to everyone on this thread. I got counselling and it really got things under control to the point where I’m not considered crazy, just kinda weird. Oh well…
Hey, I like being unemotional and unaffected. At least, I like it lot better than the sappy and/or quick-to-anger schmucks I occasionally find myself in elevators of offices with.
My sense of humour is perfectly functional, though. It gets me through the day.
Err, elevators or offices, of course.
I’ve been considered nuts by others, mainly to my lack of emotional response. Never had it checked out, though.