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Feeling emotionally numb is a common phenomenon but can significantly impact mental wellness.
Has there been a time in your life recently or in the past, when you felt like you could not emote? It's difficult to describe the feeling, and sometimes may not have any apparent cause.
However, even numbness is a type of emotion. It's a type of emotion, where you may feel that the thoughts and emotions that you would usually experience have become dull, or rather lifeless.
Interestingly, you might also feel emotionally numb, when you're suddenly faced with numerous overwhelming emotions.
How does it feel to be emotionally numb?
Feeling emotional numbness is a protective mechanism to protect ourselves from the feelings underneath. Emotional numbing is the mental and emotional process of shutting out feelings and may be experienced as deficits of emotional responses or reactivity
Often, feeling emotionally numb is temporary, but for some, it can also become a defence mechanism. These mechanisms protect our emotional health and mental health from any other potential influence. Ideally, as the triggering event in the environment goes away, the numbness should reduce, too.
Few common signs of feeling emotionally numb are losing interest in activities, preferring isolation over company, not being able to access emotions and lack of empathy. These symptoms lie on a continuum and can manifest differently in person to person.
How can I stop feeling numb?
To work with emotional numbness is a process of first developing a sense of safety in the body. We need to grow our ability to be present within the body to hold the feelings underneath the numbness without tipping into a state of overwhelm.
When there's enough ability and safety within the body, we can safely look at and process the stress underneath. There’s no quick fix in this case, though. It's a process of learning how to feel and trust. It’s a way of shutting ourselves off from something painful or overwhelming and is closely linked with the nervous system’s freeze response.
Emotional numbness can interfere with our quality of life, as it reduces ability to experience things and events around us. Some people may resort to substances or other risky behaviors to 'feel' something or anything.
To overcome a feeling of numbness:
1) Get in touch with your feelings
Try using an emotional wheel, if needed. Try to get in touch with your feelings one day at a time.
If it feels too overwhelming, a mental health professional can help you out. That can be assesed based on the duration and impact on your emotional health.
2) Move your body
If one of the causes of you feeling emotionally numb is trauma, it becomes essential to release it.
One way to do that is by moving your body as much as you can. Somatic exercises can be a game-changer to help you feel something.
3) Express it
Writing or journaling is a great way to access and process any stuck emotions. Being vulnerable isn’t always easy but opening up to someone you trust can help you process your feelings and move you into a more open, present and connected state.
What causes emotional numbness?
Feeling numb emotionally can leave you distraught and confused. Multiple factors can make you feel like that.
Generally, numbness is a side effect of significant life transition. For some, it can be a traumatic experience. Individuals who grow up with childhood trauma, may involuntarily use it a protective mechanism from future threats or harm.
For others, it may be when you're constantly exposed to stressful experiences. Whether its your career, relationships or other things, think about how you have been coping and what impact it has had on your emotional regulation.
If feeling emotionally numb persists longer than two weeks, it may be recommended to get in touch with a professional. While it's not the only symptom, it's one of the characteristic symptoms of major depressive disorder.
Irrespective of the cause and types of symptoms you're experiencing, it's essential to bring your attention to them.
It's important to note that feeling emotionally numb is not atypical, and you can recover from it with the appropriate help. Like other bodily mechanisms, emotional numbness is the body's way to save you from potential hurt and damage.
Janvi Kapur is a counselor with a Master's degree in applied psychology with a specialization in clinical psychology.
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