Emotional Numbness: What Is It and How To Manage It

Emotional numbness is a phenomenon that most people will experience at some point in their lives. It’s usually prevalent in times of extreme stress or strain or after periods of prolonged emotional difficulty. 

Emotional numbness can be difficult to live with, and overcoming numbness can be a long journey. With time, patience, and excellent emotional care, you can help your emotions spring to life again.

Resources like Hero Journey Club help bridge the gap between where you currently are and where you’d like to be. Connecting with others in a low-pressure environment through mental health expert-led gaming sessions can help you softly rejoin the world.

What Is Emotional Numbness? 

Emotional numbness, sometimes called affective blunting, is a state where someone is unable to fully feel or connect with their emotions. They’re aware of how they should be feeling in a particular situation, but their mind and body don’t connect to any emotional response. They may feel listless or as though they aren’t living in the present moment.

Emotional numbness can sometimes be a side effect of other mental health conditions. It can also be a result of emotional pain or burnout. If you’ve endured a very difficult or sad situation for a long period of time (like grief or a difficult breakup), you may eventually stop responding to the situation. 

Occasional emotional numbness is somewhat common and isn’t always a cause for concern. If you laugh so hard at something you no longer find funny or your sense of humor dies down for a few hours, that’s not a problem. 

Your brain just needs a minute to reset. Emotional numbness can be a problem if it impacts all or most of your emotions and persists for a long time.

What Are the Signs of Emotional Numbness?

Emotional numbness can manifest itself in many ways. Some people are able to mask emotional numbness and may not show any obvious signs or symptoms. Other people may have a hard time navigating their lives with emotional numbness.

• General lack of emotion: People with emotional numbness are generally minimally responsive in situations that would ordinarily elicit an emotional response, whether the appropriate response would be positive or negative.
  
  
• Difficulty expressing emotions: It’s hard to express your emotions when you aren’t exactly sure how you’re feeling. You don’t know the depth of how much a situation might affect you if you’re disconnected from your ability to experience it.
  
  
• Disconnection from oneself: We’re often driven by our emotions. We want to see loved ones, do the things that make us happy, and enjoy things that make us laugh. In many respects, being disconnected from your emotions is the same as being disconnected from yourself.
  
  
• Disinterest in activities: You may have difficulty finding joy, which makes it hard to enjoy activities you’d usually love. When the sense of allure is gone, your hobbies may fall by the wayside.
  
  
• Difficulty in maintaining relationships: Relationships involve an emotional connection. Love and empathy are the foundation of strong romantic, personal, and familial relationships.
  
  
• Physical manifestations: Emotional numbness can lead to a lack of self-care. You may not feel the need to take pride in your appearance. You may walk less confidently or appear tired and listless.
  
  
• Changes in sleep patterns: People with emotional numbness may feel drained, which can result in sleep pattern disturbances. You may sleep more than usual or have trouble getting to sleep.
  
  
• Changes in eating habits: Most people feel excited about Taco Tuesday with their friends or eager to crack open a pint of ice cream on movie night. A lack of emotional interest in food can change your eating habits by causing you to eat indiscriminately or diminishing your interest in food. 

Some people simply go through the motions when they experience emotional numbness. The signs may be subtle or completely absent if you’re quietly following the same routine every day. You may be sleeping, eating, and taking care of yourself, but you could be doing so in a mechanical, instinctive way. 

What Contributes to Emotional Numbness? 

A single traumatic event or a series of traumatic experiences can bring about temporary emotional numbness that can subside with talk therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), or other similar treatment options. This isn’t always the case. 

Mental health disorders that impact emotional processing can fundamentally change your emotional experiences. These aren’t the symptoms of emotional numbness but the potential underlying cause.

Emotional numbness doesn’t independently exist as a condition. Nothing can cause emotional numbness outright. Our response to trauma and negative emotions is the true cause of emotional numbness, and that numbness can have a circular relationship with many conditions or experiences. 

• Psychological trauma
• Chronic stress
• Depression
• Bipolar disorder
• Schizophrenia
• Anxiety disorders
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Dissociative disorders
• Other types of mental illness
• Substance abuse or substance use disorders
• Certain medications
• Physical health conditions

Your emotional numbness may be trapped in a cycle with another underlying condition, creating a vicious circle that’s hard to break without addressing the root cause. Mental health issues can impact your range of emotions in many ways. Some may feel overly excitable, while others experience minimal reactivity.

How Can Emotional Numbness Impact Your Life? 

Emotional numbness can impact your personal and professional life by limiting the extent of your relationships and your motivation. It’s hard to stay connected to the people you care about when empathizing becomes much harder. 

You’re less likely to excel in your career if you can’t find the enthusiasm required to ascend the ranks. You’ll experience less personal fulfillment in general when your drive to learn, grow, and thrive is diminished. 

How Can You Manage Emotional Numbness? 

When you’re ready to take the first step towards reconnecting with your emotions, there are plenty of things you can do to set yourself on the right track. Be patient and forgiving with yourself while you navigate the process. 

Seek Professional Help

Emotional numbness is a manifestation of a more serious underlying condition. The best thing to do to remedy feelings of emotional numbness is to address that underlying condition. Your first step should be to seek professional help to address your mental health concerns. Speak to your healthcare provider about treatment options and securing a mental health support system.

Physical Activity

When people say they’re going for a walk to “clear their head,” what they really mean is that they’re going to spend some time in nature organizing their thoughts. A change of scenery can help, and when you’re going for a walk, the scenery is constantly changing. 

Removing yourself from your environment, boosting your endorphins, and reducing stress hormones with exercise can help you gain emotional clarity. 

Healthy Diet

A healthy diet can improve your physical health and mental clarity. When you’re well nourished, every process within you functions the way it was intended to function. Restoring balance and improving your overall wellness can elevate your mood. 

Adequate Sleep

Getting too little sleep, too much sleep, or poor quality of sleep can have a significant impact on your mental health. Try setting a bedtime alarm and a wake time alarm to help you adhere to a healthy sleep schedule. It may be worth investing in better bedding and a new pillow if they’ll keep you comfortable at night.

Medication

Medication (like antidepressants or SSRIs) can be an important tool for people coping with mental health concerns if their care provider believes that it’s the right option. Medication isn’t an option for everyone and may not be relevant for all types of underlying conditions contributing to emotional numbness. Speak to a mental health professional to learn more.

Support Groups

Support groups are a safe place to discuss feelings, but discussing your feelings may not be easy if you have trouble identifying them. Support groups like Hero Journey Club use video games as a medium for positive messaging and discussions about emotions.

There’s a role-play element to video games that allows you to softly dabble with emotions and make metaphorical choices, giving you room to freely and gently explore the emotional aspects of the world through the eyes of your character.

Art Therapy

Art can be a great unifier. Poetry, painting, and creative writing are all ways to express an emotion visually, hypothetically, or through metaphor. By exploring themes, characters, and situations through a creative lens, you may find it easier to release, explore, or let go. 

Journaling

Journaling gets your emotions out of your head and onto a piece of paper. Telling yourself the story of your day or your week will give you an opportunity to pause and reflect on moments that have come and gone, giving you the opportunity to explore from a distance how they may have made you feel. 

Breathing Techniques

Numbness doesn’t always mean numbness. It can come with a physical and mental tension that ramps up in a situation that should ordinarily elicit a strong feeling. 

Breathing techniques enhance your overall well-being. They can bring you back to the moment by helping your mind and body to settle down, increasing your awareness and perception of the things happening around you.

How Can Hero Journey Club Offer Support?

Hero Journey Club hosts group video game sessions led by a mental health expert. Exploring fantasy worlds and role-playing as a new character can help you to empathetically connect by walking a mile in someone else’s virtual shoes. 

We provide a safe space to experiment with negative and positive emotions alike and socialize with similar people. Research shows that the overwhelming majority of Hero Journey Club members walk away from each gaming session feeling better. A gentle mood boost can go a long way.

Moving Forward With Emotional Numbness 

Emotional numbness can have a serious impact on your life, but it’s only an indicator of a larger underlying issue. It’s vital to prioritize your mental health to combat emotional numbness and find the sense of inner peace you deserve.

Hero Journey Club can offer additional support while you’re learning to work your way through emotional numbness. It never hurts to explore a fantasy world with new friends and receive social support from people who understand what you’re going through. 

Sources:

Emotional blunting in patients with depression. Part I: clinical characteristics | Annals of General Psychiatry

Defining Empathy to Better Teach, Measure, and Understand It | Academic Medicine

"Nothing really matters": emotional numbing as a link between trauma exposure and callousness in delinquent youth | PubMed

SAMHSA’s National Helpline