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The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Necessary'. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Functional'. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Analytics'. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This visual or verbal absent can be caused by conditions that include schizophrenia, autism, depression, and traumatic brain injury. Those with flat affect do not lack emotion, but rather their emotions are thought to be unexpressed. They may talk in a monotone voice and do not recognize the need to control the volume of their voice, speaking loudly in libraries or movie theaters, for example. What causes lack of affect? Do autistic children talk?Ĭhildren with autism spectrum disorder have good vocabularies but unusual ways of expressing themselves. A person with flat affect has no or nearly no emotional expression. “The difference between flat and blunted affect is in degree. Kaille Kirkham, 30, who says she experiences flat affect together with depression.īlunted affect is a lack of affect more severe than restricted or constricted affect, but less severe than flat or flattened affect. Is a flat affect bad?Ī flat affect is actually a symptom of psychiatric illnesses, and it can be devastating. It may also be a side effect of certain medications (e.g., antipsychotics and antidepressants). Reduced affect can be symptomatic of autism, schizophrenia, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, depersonalization disorder, schizoid personality disorder or brain damage. A person with shallow affect will feel little emotion about situations that would expect to elicit specific feelings. Shallow affect has a similar meaning to blunted affect, but it is often used to describe the emotional experience of persons with psychopathy. Other associated symptoms include speaking in a monotone voice and a reduction in facial expressions. People with flat affect may appear to be completely unemotional or apathetic. READ: Why South Asian countries are poor? What is flat affect speech?Ī flat affect is the loss or lack of emotional responses to a situation or event that would typically elicit emotion.