Emotional numbness: what is it and why do we experience it?

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Do you have the feeling that you are going through life without really feeling it? Emotional numbness is usually behind this complex psychological reality.

Emotional numbness is a psychological experience similar to “numbness.”. It is difficult to express feelings, define what happens to us and react to the demands of the environment. This, which may at first glance seem strange and contradictory, actually responds to a strategy of the brain to alleviate suffering.

There are times when we deal with such a high and sustained stress load over time that the brain develops that type of disconnection or general slowing down. This deficit in reactivity towards the stimuli that surrounds us would be a defense mechanism that often translates into what we know as “depersonalization.”

It is a state in which every experience seems unreal to us and one perceives oneself as off, disconnected from the outside world, but especially from emotions. It is not a pleasant feeling, and although we may all have experienced this reality at some point, It is not good for this state to become a constant in our lives.. We analyze the causes.

Behind the emotional numbness there may be a mental health problem, such as chronic stress, anxiety or psychological trauma.

What is emotional numbness?

Emotional numbness is a state in which a person has difficulty feeling and expressing feelings.. This would be the simple definition of a state that actually includes more complex components.

Thus, a study from the University of Utah highlights that this psychological state not only includes numbness or the inability to feel positive emotions. It is also common that the ability to experience negatively valenced emotions is reduced..

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This means that many people can function on “autopilot”, that is, they are functional in their daily lives, although they are fully aware that there is something that is not going well with them. It’s like passing through life superficially, but without feeling it.

Characteristics of people with emotional numbness

Many of us have experienced this form of emotional numbness at some point. There are times when we feel overwhelmed by so many pressures, worries and problems that, suddenly, we stop feeling. That emotional flattening appears in which few things excite us and few things affect us. It is difficult for us to react and even what surrounds us seems unreal…

Emotional numbness manifests itself with depersonalization. It is like someone looking at things from above and nothing outside with him or her and everything is processed with strangeness. Likewise, it is common to feel distracted, confused, tired… It is difficult to maintain attention and think clearly. Distortion of the sense of time. That numbness Emotionally, it is accompanied by a feeling of inner emptiness.

People respond to stress or environmental pressures in three ways: facing danger, fleeing, or through non-response or the emotional freezing response.

Emotional Numbness and the Freezing Response

Many of us assume that people react to threats in two ways: fighting or fleeing. However, there is a third factor. The brain in stressful situations can also apply a behavior called the freezing response.. This third way of responding to what worries us is directly related to emotional numbness.

It is a state in which the mind, faced with a high load of stress or suffering, chooses to reduce the feeling of panic or fear. The body also slows down, as well as our senses. This state of psychophysical numbness also serves its purpose as a survival strategy.. Because sometimes not responding or doing nothing is the best option.

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The animals know it, they play dead to mislead predators. Thus, in the case of human beings, this reaction is also interesting. For a moment, The brain numbs the conscious mind and forces us to act on autopilot. There is no time, nor the environment; neither does the pain.

What are the causes?

We know that the brain can activate the emotional numbing response as a protective shield. What he wants is for us to continue with our lives, anesthetizing ourselves. However, what is the origin of this mechanism? What happens in the brain that makes it choose this strategy to numb our emotions?

As we have pointed out previously, One cause would be chronic stress that we do not manage.Emotional numbness and post-traumatic stress disorder are always related. Mood disorders such as anxiety or depression are another trigger. Sometimes, this emotional numbness can be the side effect of psychotropic drugs. Schizophrenia is another factor.

Emotional numbness may have allowed us to be functional for a time. However, what it does is rob us of the opportunity to enjoy a full and meaningful life.

What to do if we feel mentally and psychologically numb?

There are many who live in “survival mode.” Those who go through life on tiptoe, protected by that emotional numbness. It is true that through that filter life hurts a little less, but an existence like that is not life.. No one deserves to remain in that psychological state for weeks, months or years.

Thus, it is important to keep in mind that emotional numbness is a symptom of a problem. The key is to clarify the trigger for that psychoemotional state. We must navigate our psychological fabric to identify psychological trauma, depression, stress that we do not manage or essentially the cause of that persistent discomfort.

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Psychological therapy is essential in these cases. Thanks to it we give presence to emotions not to anesthetize them, but to understand them, regulate them and transform them into healthier states. Having a toolbox that allows us to face what hurts, instead of remaining numb, is what will allow us to have a full life