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Logic -

The first clear sign that someone may be an intellectualizer is if they respond with logic whenever someone asks them how they feel.

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Defense mechanism -

For example, explaining away emotions can be a useful defense mechanism when navigating a period of strong and temporary emotions, such as grief.

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Disconnection - However, over the long term, using logic to explain the reason for emotions creates a disconnect, both with ourselves and with others.

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You try to outsmart your therapist -

Another trait of intellectualizers is that they tend to think they already hold all the answers. They also believe they are able to recognize patterns long before their therapists.

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You try to outsmart your therapist -

More often than not, intellectualizers are people who did not have the space to express their emotions as children. Therefore, they learned to deal with their emotions in other ways.

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You try to outsmart your therapist -

They may find the process of working through their emotions during therapy repetitive or even shallow.

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Think through problems -

Another key characteristic of intellectualizers is that they tend to try and think their way through problems, rather than feel any physical responses to pain.

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Feeling stuck -

Of course, it is not possible to think your way through all problems. As a result, intellectualizers often feel stuck in their suffering.

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Intelligence -

Intellectualizers are often very intelligent; they tend to use patterns, labels, and misguided explanations to create a false sense of control.

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Anxiety -

It is also common for intellectualizers to try and plan their way through anxiety, coming up with supposed solutions to all the "what if" scenarios they can imagine.

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Preprocessing -

In their minds, preprocessing all the trauma that they imagine could happen helps intellectualizers gain a sense of control over their lives.

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Opposite effect - However, the effect is usually the exact opposite: by constantly ruminating over potential scenarios, intellectualizers experience a lot of distress and anxiety in their daily lives.

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Unable to be present - In general, intellectualizers tend to believe they are very self-aware and in control. In reality, however, this defensiveness prevents them from being present.

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Self-preservation -

Instead of being in touch with and expressing their true emotions, intellectualizers tend to operate from a place of toxic self-preservation.

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You struggle to express yourself -

Of course, health self-preservation practices, such as mindfulness, have an important role to play. However, self-preservation should never get in the way of someone's ability to connect with others.

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Missing symptoms -

Intellectualizers may miss the physical symptoms of stress because they immediately resort to overthinking.

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Experiencing stress -

Of course, it is not only our minds that respond to stress. Our bodies experience stress, too, and it shows in physical symptoms, such as increased heart rate and fatigue.

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Disconnection from the body -

Not being in touch with your body and not noticing those symptoms is a sign that you may be in too much of a rush to explain away your stress.

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Rumination - Another very common symptom of intellectualizing is rumination. Instead of dealing with anxiety as it appears, intellectualizers will categorize and compartmentalize.

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Overthinking - Overthinking is a defense mechanism that prevents intellectualizers from living in the moment and can spark a vicious cycle of isolation and loneliness.

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Unnecessary levels of stress - As an intellectualizer, you may be burdening yourself with unnecessary levels of stress, rather than spending time connecting with yourself and others.

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Rational thinking - If you have a tendency to believe that rational thinking can solve all your problems, you may be an intellectualizer. Of course, rational thought has its place.

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Seeing another's perspective -

Using rational thought to help yourself deal with a breakup, for example, may give you the opportunity to see things from the other person's perspective.

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Isolating oneself - However, when you rely on rational thought to get yourself through daily situations of stress, you are likely to isolate yourself from the present moment.

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You over rely on humor -

Another sign that someone is an intellectualizer is when they use humor to try and distract people from what they're actually thinking and feeling.

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Humor as a defense mechanism -

Of course, humor has an important role to play in interpersonal relationships. However, when it is used as a defense mechanism, it starts to become toxic.

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Childhood trauma -

Intellectualizers who use this technique are often people who experienced childhood trauma and who grew up in a space where they were unable to express emotions.

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Conflict -

The final telltale sign that you are an intellectualizer is if you struggle with conflict. Indeed, intellectualizers tend to overthink and rationalize so much that it gives them a false sense of confidence.

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Perceptions - More often than not, this perceived level of self-assuredness can make it difficult to deal with people who have different opinions.

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Overly critical -

You may even be overly critical of people who choose to express their emotions to you, or label them as oversensitive or too emotional. 

Sources: (YourTango)

See also: The different types of emotions and their effect on human behavior

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