Recognizing the Signs of Emotional Numbness
Discussions of emotional problems often focus on heightened experiences such as impulsivity or poor anger management. For some people, though, the problem isn’t that their emotions are out of control – it’s that they can’t feel them at all. The signs of emotional numbness can be both disturbing and disruptive, but the good news is that they can be treated.
To learn more about Mental Health Treatment options at New Mind Wellness, call us today or verify your insurance online. We’re excited to help you start your personal recovery journey.
What Is Emotional Numbness?
We often think of numbness in physical terms, such as when you lose feeling in a certain body part or are given an anesthetic prior to a medical procedure. The numbness doesn’t protect you from harm, but it prevents you from experiencing the pain that you would otherwise feel.
In extreme cases, such as paralysis, physical numbness can make it more difficult for you to function at work, in school, or in other important areas of life.
Emotional numbness is a similar phenomenon. Except, instead of being resistant to physical pain and movement, you are unable to experience or exhibit feelings such as joy, hope, or anger.
As with physical numbness, emotional numbness may protect you from some types of psychological pain, it can also undermine your ability to fully engage in a productive and satisfying life.
Potential causes of emotional numbness include:
- Mental health disorders: Emotional numbness can be a symptom of several mental health disorders, including depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and schizophrenia.
- Grief and/or trauma: In the aftermath of a significant loss or other traumatic experience, signs of emotional numbness could be an attempt by your brain to protect you from additional psychological harm.
- Substance abuse: Chronic abuse of alcohol or other drugs can negatively impact your ability to empathize with others, experience joy without substances, or have hope for the future – all of which are common signs of emotional numbness.
- Brain diseases or injuries: Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) and certain diseases can have a dramatic effect on your personality. Depending on the nature and severity of the injury or disease, this effect can include a diminished ability to feel, process, and express your emotion.
What Are the Signs of Emotional Numbness?
Emotional numbness isn’t a clinical diagnosis, so there’s no set of universally accepted criteria for what it does or doesn’t include. Also, one persons experience can vary from another’s due to a variety of internal and external factors.
With these caveats in mind, here are 10 common signs of emotional numbness.
- Difficulty experiencing joy or happiness: Clinicians use the term “anhedonia” to describe this sign of emotional numbness, which can extend to all parts of your life. Examples include feeling like every meal is bland, having a persistent sense of dissatisfaction even when things are going well, and experiencing a reduced desire for intimacy.
- Limited capacity for empathy and compassion: This sign of emotional numbness is characterized by an inability to feel joy, sadness or even anger on behalf of someone else.
- Flat affect: This is a clinical term that describes limited facial expressiveness and speaking in a dull, monotone voice. To others, flat affect can give the impression that you’re bored or angry – but in reality you may simply lack any desire to express yourself with enthusiasm.
- Diminished energy and motivation: When you wake up, you find it increasingly difficult to simply get out of bed and get started with your day. You may begin to ignore your appearance and personal hygiene, and your effort in school or at work may be just enough to avoid failure or job loss. Your goal is simply to get through the day.
- Loss of interest in important activities: Preferences can change over time, and it’s not abnormal to no longer participate in an activity that you used to value. But if you suddenly lose interest in hobbies, topics, or other pursuits that until recently were significant to you, that can be a sign of emotional numbness.
- Sense of detachment: This can feel like you have become physically and emotionally separated from everyone around you. Even though you’re in the same place as they are, it’s like you’re looking at them through a pane of glass. At its extreme, this is a form of dissociation known as derealization.
- Withdrawal and isolation: People who experience the previous sign (detachment) may want to connect with others, but find themselves unable to do so. Withdrawal and isolation, on the other hand, involve the intentional pulling away from friends, family members, and colleagues. This can result from the cumulative impact of other signs of emotional numbness, such as anhedonia, lack of empathy, and low motivation.
- Uncharacteristic recklessness: This can be maladaptive attempt to break through emotional numbness by putting yourself in risky or dangerous situations as a means of triggering some type of reaction, even if it’s fear or despair.
- Pervasive helplessness and/or hopelessness: Emotional numbness can cause you to believe you are incapable of making positive changes in your life or in the world around you. At its extreme, it can lead you to adopt the nihilist view that life has no meaning.
- Guilt and shame: Yes, guilt and shame are emotions. They can also be signs of emotional numbness, especially if they are misdirected and excessive. Feeling guilty that you can’t connect with others, or ashamed that you’ve lost your capacity for empathy, are signs that you know what you’re going through isn’t “normal.”
How Is Emotional Numbness Treated?
If you have been experiencing emotional numbness, or someone that you care about has been exhibiting the types of signs listed in the previous section, please know that treatment can help.
The type of treatment that’s best for someone with emotional numbness can vary depending on several factors, including what caused you or your loved one to begin feeling this way.
One of the first decisions regarding treatment is determining which level of care is most appropriate. If a person’s struggles have caused significant functional impairments, an inpatient or residential center may be the best place to begin receiving care.
After completing inpatient or residential treatment – or if you don’t require 24/7 support – you may benefit from spending time in a partial hospitalization program (PHP), an intensive outpatient program (IOP), and/or an outpatient program (OP).
Within these various levels of care, your treatment may include elements such as:
- Prescription medication
- Individual psychotherapy
- Group therapy
- Family counseling and education
- Couples counseling
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)
- EMDR and other trauma therapies
When seeking care, remember that there’s no such thing as a “perfect” course of treatment for emotional numbness. Instead, you should focus on finding a provider that will take the time to thoroughly assess your history and needs, then use the results of this assessment to develop a comprehensive, customized treatment plan.
Find Treatment for Emotional Numbness in Philadelphia, PA
New Mind Wellness is a premier provider of personalized outpatient care for adults who have been experiencing emotional numbness and other mental or behavioral health concerns.
Our team takes a supportive and compassionate approach, working closely with each patient and encouraging them to play an active role in all aspects of their care.
We understand how disruptive emotional numbness and other mental health symptoms can be, and we’re committed to developing the personalized solutions that will put you on the path toward a more hopeful and satisfying future.
To learn more or to schedule a free assessment, please visit our Contact page or call us today.
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