Before I begin, a definition. Emotional retardation is the inability or refusal to express, detect, or react to emotions, in either oneself or in others, or simply the conscious denial of emotions altogether. As you can see, emotional retardation is a very broad topic. Almost everyone is emotionally retarded, in some fashion or another. For instance, many people have a hard time reacting to strong displays of emotion. Many others are incapable of detecting emotions in other people. There are also many people who refuse to display any emotion, whatsoever. This rant will focus on a select few divisions of emotional retardation.

Okay, to address the first, and least stressful of the types; those who can't react to other people's emotions. I know it has happened to all of us. You're sitting around, enjoying your day, and someone starts to cry, for whatever reason. Very few people can react well to something like that. I don't get angry at people like that... however, I do find it very frustrating when I, myself exhibit that very same trait. I can't stand not being able help someone out. A strong display of emotion tends to really catch me off guard, and I don't know how to react, especially with people that I'm not really very close to. Of course, if someone is crying, one can't help but feel bad, and want to help, but what can you do? Do you hug them and ask them what is the matter? For someone as anti-contact as I am, that simply isn't an option. Do you leave the room so that they don't have to be embarrassed about it? That makes you seem cold, and uncaring. Do you simply ignore it, and hope that they can pull themselves together? Then you look like an idiot. You just can't win.

That brings me to the next type of emotional retardation; the inability to detect emotions in others. This one is considerably more frustrating than the last, especially when you are trying to convey something a little subtly. These people are the ones who need someone to either start yelling in their face, or crying all over them in order for them to realize that there may be a problem. For instance, if someone is moping around, not making eye contact, shoulders hunched, head bowed, shuffling their feet, you would think that something is wrong, just to look at them. This is not always so. It baffles me that people (and I am not just talking about guys here, either) can be totally oblivious to something that is so apparent to everyone else. Really, when I see this happen, I can�t help but wonder if the person is an idiot, or just a jerk. An idiot doesn�t see the signs at all. A jerk sees them, but pretends they are not there, in hopes that someone else will deal with it for them, because they don�t know how to react to the emotions. As you can see, many of the divisions of emotional retardation are linked closely together.

Lastly; those that simply refuse to acknowledge their own emotions. Emotions are not weaknesses. It is not wrong to cry. Showing someone that you are not a robot does not make you less strong. It is these people that frustrate me more than anything: The people that are incapable of showing any emotion, and regardless of what is going through their heads, plaster a smile on their face and continue as if they have not a care in the world, while on the inside, they want to cry. I realize that it is somewhat unreasonable of me to get frustrated with something that a lot of people simply can't resolve, but really. Let yourself go once in a while. No one will begrudge you the occasional weeping, drooling mess on their shoulder. If you are one of these people, then seriously, go out on a limb and just cry, sometime. Let it out. Be human, for a change.