Why am I insensitive to the suffering of others?

All species of animals that live in groups are endowed with the ability to become sensitive to the pain of their peers. Solidarity is part of their genetic equipment as a guarantee for the survival of the species. Now, if this is the case in most species Why then are there those who are insensitive to the suffering of others?

How is it possible that there are people capable of emotionally closing themselves off from what is outside of themselves? There are several possible answers to these questions. The causes behind insensitivity range from the existence of serious pathologies, alexithymia, to extreme vulnerability.

The paths to developing an insensitive character are also many and cover different manifestations. Callousness usually doesn’t apply to everything. That is, unless there is a disease very disabling mental illness, people are not totally insensitive.

The degree varies, the object varies and the circumstances vary. In other words, one can be completely insensitive to the suffering of some and, at the same time, very sensitive to the pain of others at a certain moment and vice versa at another.

Causes and manifestations of the insensible condition

We often label the insensitive person as cold, unfriendly, and even unemotional. However, it is important to delve a little deeper into the psychological architecture of this type of profile. Let’s see some characteristics about it.

Alexithymia

There is a small part of the population that shows a certain coldness in treatment. They show that emotional distance that is often associated with clearly insensitive behavior.

According to the Spanish Society of Neurology (SEN), it tells us that Alexithymics live in a prison of unusual suffering where, despite experiencing emotions, they cannot identify or demonstrate them.According to a study carried out by Juan Otero and the Spanish Association of Neuropsychiatry, in this condition there are usually genetic alterations that determine this characteristic.

Trauma and emotional inexperience

Those who have experienced great emotional suffering tend to be more empathetic and sensitive to the pain of others. But yes that pain has exceeded certain limits due to psychological trauma or if it has occurred in the context of extreme vulnerability, the opposite effect occurs: they become insensitive.

The puzzling thing is that the opposite phenomenon also occurs. This means that who has not experienced sufferingor has done so to a minimal extent, also becomes insensitive. He fails to attribute meaning or emotional value to the suffering of others.His capacity for empathy has not been developed and he displays a kind of emotional ignorance. that prevents him from showing solidarity with the suffering or joy of others…. because there is not only insensitivity to negative emotions.

Being insensitive to the suffering of others manifests itself in different ways. It doesn’t just have to do with remaining indifferent to someone’s state of need or request for help.

Also This includes any behavior in which another human being is approached as an organism, instrument or means without being an end at the same time..

When you are sensitive and insensitive at the same time

The usual thing is for a person to be sensitive and insensitive at the same time. It is also common for stages of insensitivity to appear in those who are normally sensitive and empathetic. There are many factors that come together to make this happen. If someone is going through serious suffering, they probably do not have enough emotional energy to empathize with the suffering of others.

There are people who fear suffering and without realizing it develop strategies, mechanisms or ways to become desensitized.. This occurs, for example, in the case of addictions.

The consumption of psychoactive drugs raises a barrier of insensitivity to the suffering of others. It is a bubble that acts as an insulator. Building and nurturing an excessively rigid character is also a desensitization strategy. In fact, it is a way to take severe control over emotions, so that all energy is invested in containing them.

Love and solidarity

Erich Fromm pointed out that love and solidarity, if they are genuine, are also universal. He said that if one loves a human being, he also loves humanity.

Making an analogy of these postulates, it could be said that It is impossible to be sensitive to the suffering of one human being without at the same time becoming sensitive to the pain of all. the other human beings. It usually happens like this, although in different intensities. In this sense, those who are not recipients of sensitivity may be affected, but those who are sure to be affected are those who do not have or manifest sensitivity.

The instinctive inclination towards solidarity is not a whim of nature. In our genetic endowment there is information that was installed there as a guarantee of survival. Helping and being helped is, by far, one of the strategies that life – and therefore, us – has to perpetuate itself.

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