Inability to express strong negative or positive emotions, Inability to “fully participate” in life (i.e., feeling like you’re a passive observer), Feeling that life is like a dream (a sense unreality), Lack of interest in activities others find enjoyable, The tendency to withdraw from friends and family members, Emotions are only felt in the body as sensations, but not by the mind (or else are completely muted in the body and show up only as illness), Dislike of people who express strong emotions (both positive and negative), Not feeling anything in situations that would usually generate strong emotion, Panic or terror when strong emotions eventually breakthrough, Physical and emotional numbness or “flatness”.
Minimizing the stress you experience or improving how you manage it can positively impact your body, reduce stress hormones, and help you regain emotional feeling. Terms, “I isolate myself behind the ‘introvert’ behavior when really, I’m hiding. © The most common culprits are medications used to treat anxiety and depression. Healthline Media does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Point A (work) to point B ( home) is all I f. “Personally, when I go numb, I try to pick fights with my fiancé, in order to get a reaction of emotion, since I can’t feel any emotion myself and me trying to push him away since I am uncomfortable with myself. They may be able to help you connect, and you may find relief in telling them what you’re experiencing. The numbness can be unbearable for many people who experience it. “Feels like being unfocused. Allowing yourself to cry will be a good start for you.
It’s like my brain knows it’s funny, but I have no outward expression whatsoever.” — Katie S. “Day-to-day I’ll be extra forgetful, forget to message people back, have to ask people to repeat things and might seem like I’m not listening when I’m actually just not present. The limbic system is located near the center of your brain and is responsible for your emotions. Feeling numb, wanting to cry out hard but not being able to do so is perfectly normal and happens with all of us. She’s not the only one who has felt this way, so we asked our Mighty community to share something they do because they’re emotionally “numb.” You can read what they shared below. Overview. Make an appointment with a professional in your area who can help you tap into your emotions. If you need support, we encourage you to post a Thought or Question about it on the site to connect with people in our community who get it. Feeling emotionally numb, or a general lack of emotion, can be a symptom of several different medical conditions or a side effect of some medications. Mighty contributor Elizabeth Duff shared how she defines it in her piece, “When Depression Makes Me Numb, Not Sad”.
“Often I feel invisible, like I’m a ghost. All rights reserved. This includes its mood regulation and improvement. When I am numb like that, I’m usually trapped in my head — sitting, staring and waiting to come back to myself.” — Nicole S. “Having panic attacks instead of feeling negative emotions. We are so grateful you’re here and in our community. It can cause a sense of isolation or emotional disconnect from the rest of the world. Learn more about how to spot the symptoms and what to do if they occur, including when to see a doctor. Make an appointment with a psychiatrist: A psychiatrist can switch up your medications or prescribe you new medication. Be aware that feelings of total or long-term numbness might be an indication of mental health disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Go to source or clinical depression. “It makes me feel as if there were analogue TV static in my brain. That depletion of both emotional and physical energy can create emotional numbness. Point A (work) to point B ( home) is all I focus on.” — Janelle F. “I’m in the ‘either or’ mode… either I overreacted or I don’t react at all.. They can also offer coping techniques to help you regain your emotional feeling again. I don’t like being mad or sad.
Treatment is available to provide both immediate relief and long-term remission. The medications they prescribe you may be fast-acting and can provide fast relief. Reach out to the people you love and make an appointment with your doctor. Stress hormones can flood your systems and cause different reactions within the body that can lead to emotional numbness.
Experts say paternal postpartum depression is a serious issue many dads don't speak about. Our names are Aletheia Luna and Mateo Sol (, Our goal is to provide a grounded and balanced perspective of, Why You Need to Stop “Fixing” Your Emotional Suffering, 9 Ego Defense Mechanisms That Kill Self-Growth, Emotional Minimalism: How to Purge Yourself From Inner Chaos and Clutter, 9 Characteristics of the Mystical Experience, 7 Omens That Herald the Dark Night of the Soul, Your Body is Sacred: 3 Ways to Practice Embodied Spirituality. © 2005-2020 Healthline Media a Red Ventures Company. I don’t like being mad or sad. If you don’t already have a mental health care provider, the Healthline FindCare tool can help you find a physician in your area. Exercise: When you’re feeling numb, the last thing you may want to do is get up and moving, but it’s one of the best things you can do. There are a number of different things that can cause emotional numbness. It’s…, Olivia Callaghan, a mental illness blogger, suddenly deleted her Instagram account. I make myself go out to do those things. I will just sit and not interact with people or my surroundings. Overall, it seems like for a brief time, I lose myself completely and all control of my mental processing.” — Autumn T. “Something people don’t realize I’m doing because I’m emotionally numb is placing myself in risky situations. When you feel numb emotionally, you can’t feel love or hate. To start getting more immediate relief from emotional numbness, you can try several treatment options. You are empty inside. One symptom I wish more people understood is feeling numb. When I’m conscious it’s happening and can’t seem to get back to reality, I tend to switch onto self-destruct mode to try and get some feeling back.” — Harriet L. “I zone out to the point I’m only physically there, but mentally elsewhere and emotionally dead. Minimize stress: Stress is a huge contributing factor to emotional numbness. “It basically feels like when you zone out before you go to sleep,” Amanda D. said. Whether you’re struggling with numbness from a struggle with mental illness symptoms, the impact of trauma, grief or something else, we want you to know we see you. | medications used to treat anxiety and depression.
I do whatever I can because I become so uncomfortable I cannot sit in the anxiety and discomfort.” — Dana B. Terms & Conditions. A therapist can help with this. They can help you bridge the gap and bring you one step closer to emotional feeling. The first step in treating emotional numbness is to identify and treat the underlying cause. I don’t get excited, or show facial expressions.” — Justin L. If you’re struggling with feeling “numb” you’re not alone. If you can relate to feeling numb, you’re not alone. Privacy Policy. I’ve just come to the realization that the reason I feel quite emotionless all the time and haven’t been able to cry … Learn to identify and express emotions: For those who have been emotionally numb for an extended time, it can be difficult to identify or process different emotions. Learn 10 self-care strategies to help manage depression ». If I’m walking, I will hold onto the person and that’s the only way I stay with them.” — Raven M. “A different one for me is dating. When you push your feelings down and keep yourself from crying, those feelings don't go away. Do you have trouble expressing feelings in general? But even at this level, emotional numbness can be turned around.
Catatonic depression is characterized by severe depression with additional symptoms like the inability to move and lack of response to stimuli. Find out how her bipolar disorder caused this, and why she will…, The history of bipolar disorder is perhaps as complex as the condition itself. I turn into a robot I have very little empathy and my body language and voice are flatlined.
“I interrupt. Emotional numbness can be difficult to imagine if you haven’t experienced it yourself. To get the best results, exercise daily. Despite how it may feel, emotional numbness is not permanent. If you’re experiencing emotional numbness, know that no matter how you feel, you aren’t alone, and it won’t last forever. Overall, it seems like for a brief time, I lose myself completely and all control of my mental processing.” — Autumn T. “Something people don’t realize I’m doing because I’m emotionally numb is placing myself in risky situations. *Some names have been changed at the request of interviewees. It appears you entered an invalid email. I cry more, laugh more, feel more and the gray colors are becoming more technocolored again. Some people become so numb, they turn into an emotional fog, a smoke that just dissipates into nothing. It’s a shitty, zombie state of gray flatness. I get extra clumsy too and tend to knock things over or walk into things.
Then, once the battle is over and my numbing state is satisfied, it is as though I come back, with a full experience of emotions, and begin to cry because I feel so horrible for words I didn’t mean, despite not being able to explain what happened. “The world around me often seems slightly superficial, [like] I am simply going through the motions and can’t connect to my environment,” she explains. People seek help from professional psychologists for many different challenges. Find out more about these issues, from death to stress to family and…. When I do, it’s usually forced — shopping, events or errands. I’m willing to come to harm physically and/or emotionally so that I feel something — anything — other than the ‘nothingness’ of being numb.” — Louisa T. “I say exactly what I am thinking. I’m willing to come to harm physically and/or emotionally so that I feel something —. Running, swimming, yoga, and kickboxing classes are all great for stress relief, but even just taking a walk around the neighborhood can help flood your brain with endorphins. But it doesn't have to. I’m numb to those negative emotions because of trauma and PTSD. Rely on your support system: Even if you’re having trouble connecting, reach out to the people who love you. You’ll be asked what medications you take and what other symptoms you have. A sense of hollowness — like a dull, numb lump — often defines me when I’m really down. I am unable to communicate or think deeply.”, Some people describe the emotional numbness as feeling unfocused or ungrounded.
Some feel as though they have no future or that there is no hope for the numbness to ever fade. I watch my family engaging with each other, but feel like there’s an invisible barrier that keeps me from joining them,” describes Amy H., who has experienced emotional numbness from depression. I make myself go out to do those things.
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