Emotional numbness is not a condition that is to be taken lightly or merely shrugged aside. It’s actually a coping mechanism for a lot of people who are going through some very painful ordeals or experiences. There are certain mental health conditions or disorders that can trigger emotional numbness in people. Some of these disorders are as follows:
- Depression
- Grief
- Anxiety
- Stress
- Trauma
- PTSD
- Drug Abuse
If you feel like you are experiencing emotional numbness, then perhaps it’s because you have been through/are going through a lot in your life. This means that your mind needs to take a break for a bit. And as a result, you end up switching off your capacity to feel emotions. You try to shut out even the positive feelings and emotions that you have such as happiness because you know that they come hand in hand with the negative. And you would totally just want to excuse yourself from all that negativity altogether.
A person who dissociates from themselves and their own emotions often feel that life is a lot simpler when feelings and emotions aren’t factored into the equation.
But becoming emotionally numb isn’t something that happens just instantaneously. There isn’t a switch that you can just flick on or off to trigger it. Emotional numbness is a very slow and gradual process that results in a person just removing themselves from real life little by little. And a lot of the time, it isn’t necessarily a conscious choice that a person makes either.
Sometimes, a person who ends up feeling nothing once felt emotions so deeply to the point that it overwhelmed them. They might have been broken by their own feelings before. And so as a kind of defense or coping mechanism, the brain now shuts off their emotions so as not to expose them to that kind of trauma again.
Before we move on to the latter portion of this article, it’s important to keep in mind that in certain situations, it isn’t necessarily a problem to just shut off your feelings. There will be times in life wherein you will always just want to remain purely logical and rational. For instance, if you want to remove yourself from a toxic situation, you have to be logical about that. Sometimes, your feelings can end up manipulating you to staying in places that you should be getting out of. In that sense, emotional numbness can be advantageous.
Emotional numbness only ever really becomes a problem when it begins to deprive you of all the great joys and experiences that life has to offer. The truth is that there is a lot of joy and good to be found in this world. And it would be almost pointless to live life while depriving yourself of all the great pleasures that it has to offer.
If you or anyone you know actually exhibits a lot of the signs that are listed below, it’s likely that they are experiencing emotional numbness in life.
- They isolate themselves from others.
- They will have difficulty expressing their feelings and emotions to other people.
- They will have a very lifeless vibe and energy.
- They look as if they are completely detached from the world that they are living in.
- They talk in a very robotic and monotonous manner.
- They might live life with a very passive nature.
- They will have trouble distinguishing the emotional weight of dreams and reality.
- They will show very little or no enthusiasm for activities.
- They might feel that everything in life is absolutely pointless or meaningless.
- They won’t show any signs of emotion even in dire or tense situations.
- They will not be able to control their emotions whenever these feelings to surface.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Again, it can sometimes be advantageous to be emotionally numb. However, in this contemporary society, it can be very dangerous to cut oneself off from experiencing any feelings or emotions. This might lead to unhealthy isolation and depersonalization. No one should ever have to hold on to their identity or their feelings for comfort. But moderation is always going to be key – as it is with other aspects of life. You never want to let your feelings get the best of you. But you don’t want to be completely devoid of them either.
If you happen to find yourself just feeling emotionally detached and numb, then you should consider seeking the help and counsel of your loved ones or even licensed professionals. They would be able to help you find a way to just reconnect with the depths of your soul so that you are in a better position to attract joy and positivity in your life.
No one should ever have to make it through this life on some kind of autopilot mode. Yes, you are protecting yourself from pain but you are also depriving yourself and all those around you of the great positive energy that you have inside of you.
