Table 1.

Expressions that reflect catastrophic feelings or maneuvers to avoid them.

Feelings just float around inside me, and it is difficult to really know what I feel

I wish my body had no needs

Even when someone attempts to reach me, it is as if I am unavailable deep inside

Intense feelings to me are mostly about fear

Feelings usually come suddenly

If I experience my feelings as threatening, I have to rapidly do something before it ends in chaos

I am afraid to lose control

I have given up my attempts to reach other people

If I allow for what is within me to appear, I will be engulfed by emptiness

Feelings quickly become much too intense

I would have felt less alone if other people really had understood how dramatic my inner life is

If I stay conscious to the pain, I can get stuck in it, and it will never pass

I know I have a body, but it is as if it exists independent of me

I think it is best to feel as little as possible

It is best to keep occupied with something so that I do not start thinking on how things really are

My feelings are like a big chunk of all kinds of feelings which are difficult to sort apart

My body and my experiences must be kept apart for me to survive

I try to avoid as best I can that my feelings lead to something catastrophic

I often have a feeling of extreme danger that comes without warning

I am afraid of what can happen if I let go of my control

I think it is better to be numb than to have to feel everything all the time

I am engulfed by emptiness

I fear that if I let go of control over my feelings, I will dissolve and become nothing

The pain inside me will fill me completely and take up all space, if I stop fighting it

To me, a good day is a day completely without feelings

Good feelings can suddenly change into negative feelings without me understanding what is happening

It is as if I live within a thick shell, without feeling protected by it

It is best to be occupied with something so that chaos does not take the upper hand

If I really should allow my inner fear to rise to the surface, I would break into pieces and never become myself again

I always need to have something at hand, so that I can stop my feelings before they take over completely

My body feels strange and foreign

I have lost hope, nothing matters

Nobody sees me

It is difficult to get into real contact with other people

I feel I am stuck, as in a bubble of jelly

Intense feelings to me are mostly about bodily discomfort

I will become mad if I am to allow my feelings to ravage freely

I am afraid to disappear if I loosen up on my control

I make sure to avoid things and situations that I know make me stressed