Fine, Actually: The Quiet Struggle of Feeling Without Words (ALEXYTHEMIA)
There’s a quiet kind of pain that many carry without a name. You might feel it as a constant heaviness in your chest, a knot in your stomach before sleep, or a restlessness you can’t explain. When someone asks, “How are you?” the answer that comes easiest is “Fine,” even when something inside feels far from it. Not because you’re hiding, but because you genuinely don’t know how to put it into words. Over time, you start to believe this is just who you are. “I’m not emotional.” “I’m too practical.” “I don’t really feel things deeply.” You watch others cry, celebrate, or open up with ease, and wonder why your own heart feels like a room with the lights dimmed. You might even blame yourself, thinking you’re cold, detached, or spiritually weak, when in truth, your emotions are there. They’re just speaking a language you haven’t learned yet. In Islamic psychology, this state finds both understanding and mercy. The heart ( qalb) is described as the center of feeling, awareness, and conn...
