Have you ever persistently felt low energy where you lacked motivation in life? Have you ever felt detached from yourself and everything around you? Well, you might have experienced a condition known as emotional numbness.
According to Kerig et al. (2016), “Emotional numbness is a state of being in which you are not feeling or expressing emotions”. It is a usually a sign of an environmental or mental health issue. Emotional numbness which is also known as emotional blunting, anhedonia, alexithymia, emotional detachment or disassociation may seem strenuous to understand or describe if one has not experienced it before. However, some people often describe it as a feeling of isolation while others experience emptiness and feel discouraged. This may cause them to become unfocused and disoriented. Mayra Mendez, a licensed psychotherapist and program coordinator at Providence Saint John's Child and Family Development Center describes it as “the mental and emotional process of shutting out feelings and may be experienced as deficits of emotional responses or reactivity".
At certain periods of life, we all encounter situations or events which may affect our emotional stability causing emotional numbness. Notable among the causes of emotional numbness include mental, physical or emotional abuse, unemployment, sudden loss of a job, grief, martial breakdown or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Other factors include extreme stress which affects hormonal levels, substance abuse, side effects of certain medications, personality disorder, excess fatigue, anxiety, brain injury, derealisation, depersonalisation, chronic conditions and other mental health disorders.
Common symptoms of emotional numbness include indifference towards the things or people you once cared about, a sense that nothing really matters to you anymore, inability to feel emotions where strong emotional reactions are expected, distance or detachment from others, buildup of disinterest in previously enjoyable intimate relationships, lack of excitement about the future, self-isolation, lack of concentration, engaging in self-harm experiences or reckless behaviours, and a sense of nothingness. The symptoms of emotional numbness differ from depressive symptoms in that, depression is a mental health condition whereas emotional numbness is among the signs of depression. The question “how does one handle such a condition?” then arises. Some of the helpful practices to deal with emotional numbness are, therefore, discussed below.
Identify the underlying cause or condition. This entails self-assessment, clinical or counselling evaluation on what issues may be troubling you leading to the numbness condition as it may either be an environmental, social or health related. When you know the causative factors, it guides you to seek appropriate intervention and solution to tackle it.
Practice self-care. Quite often we get too busy to take care of ourselves. We overstress ourselves in the quest for self-actualisation. While this is necessary, it is important to occasionally slow down and pamper yourself. It is helpful to have a routine for activities such going on a holiday to relax, engaging in a hobby, finding time to rest and relax. Such activities help the body to recover from any excesses and reignite newness into the system.
Develop a sleep pattern. The value of sleep seems underrated. However, studies affirm the immense benefit of at least 8 hours of sleep daily. It is critical to maintain a good sleep pattern irrespective of work demands to keep us constantly refreshed and light. When we refuse to make time for sleep, nature may compel us to do so and sometimes, the hard way. A good sleep pattern can help you manage your emotional numbness better.
Find purpose. Have an appreciation for your life mission and the ultimate reason why you are here on earth. For some people, this may come easily but it could span many years before others may be able to discover their purpose in life. Whichever group you find yourself in, it is entirely fine. Just ensure that you steadfastly strive to discover your purpose in life and be driven by that. Remain focused on attaining a purposeful life to avoid experiencing situations that may culminate into emotional numbness.
Keep meaningful relationships. For the sake of your mental wellness, it is needful to keep meaningful relationships. Social interactions should have meaning and not drain your emotions or be demeaning to your person. Learn to keep safe boundaries of respect, responsibility and genuineness in your engagements with others.
Develop coping strategies. Every individual has unique ways to deal with life stressors and struggles. Know yourself by identifying what works for you but practice healthy defense mechanisms that are tolerable for you to allow you remain sane in the chaos of life. This way, when you experience emotional numbness, you can manage it better.
Give yourself time. Sometimes, being numb is actually okay. It helps you find perspective and clarity about how your life has been, can be and will be. It is a period to re-position and re-strategize about the state of your life to make necessary adjustments and adaptations. Although it may seem like the world is moving rapidly while you stand still, it is imperative to believe that this is just a phase which will pass! Be kind to yourself and wait. It may end up being the best worthwhile season of your life.
Avoid making comparison. Contentment is golden if one is to sail through life in a fulfilling manner. It is good to learn from others’ successes to better one's own achievements. However, this should not lead to bitterness, jealousy or other unhealthy comparisons. Be yourself and be happy to be you because you are special! That way, you can avoid experiencing emotional numbness sometimes.
Get the right help. When experiencing emotional numbness, it is good to seek support from the right people who will not take advantage of you due to your vulnerability. Find a safe network with empathetic support and seek professional psychological help where applicable. Be careful not to expose yourself to people who will take advantage of you.
Do not give up. Emotional numbness may affect all of us somehow. We all experience existential anxiety as we go through life. However, our response to these happenings is determined by our choices, ability to accept responsibility for those choices and the freedom to express our values, beliefs and goals.
As we strive towards self-actualization, we may encounter certain unforeseen challenges in the physical, personal, social and spiritual world we find ourselves in. Our choices, thoughts, attitudes, emotional reactions and responses to these happenings determine our behaviour which may affect our physical, psychological and emotional well-being.
It is a fact that in life, we experience several issues but we are unable to resolve them all in our lifetime. That notwithstanding, we need to brace ourselves and journey through life as best as we can manage.
We do not need to fight alone especially if the emotional numbness disrupts our daily activities and affects our ability to function. Seek Professional Counselling and Psychology Services as it can help you overcome psychological conditions like emotional numbness.
Dear Reader, whatever you may be dealing with presently, you are not alone. Help is here for you always! Keep strong.
Reach us for support via email counsellorseyram@gmail.com or on facebook - Counsellor Seyram.
Bibliography
Christensen, M. C., Hongye R. & Fagiolini A. (2022). Emotional blunting in patients with depression. Part I: Clinical characteristics. https://annals-general-psychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12991-022-00387-1
Kerig, P. K., Bennett D. C., Chaplo, S. D., Modrowski, C. A. & McGee, A. B. (2016). Numbing of positive, negative, and general emotions: Associations with trauma exposure, posttraumatic stress, and depressive symptoms among justice-involved youth. Journal of Traumatic Stress,29(2):111-119. doi:10.1002/jts.22087
https://www.verywellmind.com/emotional-numbing-symptoms-2797372#citation-7
Comments
Post a Comment
Please remember to click the follow button on the top left corner of the page. Warmest Regards!