I came across a study recently that piqued my interest. The study aimed to investigate the “double empathy problem” in autism, exploring how non-autistic individuals empathise with autistic people. The researchers examined empathic accuracy, cognitive empathy, and affective empathy in 81 non-autistic adults when viewing emotional narratives from both autistic and non-autistic individuals. Their main findings revealed that participants had lower empathic accuracy scores when viewing autistic narrators, especially for happy and sad emotions, while experiencing more intense bodily sensations for anger and fear. These results appeared to support the double empathy hypothesis, suggesting that non-autistic individuals struggle to accurately empathise with autistic people.
Thanks again for this thorough analysis of how alexythimia needs to be addressed as a separate, co-occurring condition of both autistic and non-autistic persons. I can relate to your experience of easily absorbing other people’s emotions while not being able able to accurately identify my own emotions. And I like the guideline mentioned in the article of “giving autistic persons time and space to process complex emotions.”
Thanks again for this thorough analysis of how alexythimia needs to be addressed as a separate, co-occurring condition of both autistic and non-autistic persons. I can relate to your experience of easily absorbing other people’s emotions while not being able able to accurately identify my own emotions. And I like the guideline mentioned in the article of “giving autistic persons time and space to process complex emotions.”