- 1 November 2024
We all feel numb from time to time, especially when faced with tough or painful stuff. Whether it’s being let down by someone we trust or getting bad news, emotional numbness (also known as emotional blunting) is a natural response to help us cope during times of psychological distress. It’s uncomfortable to feel numb and disconnected from our emotions but we need to understand why this happens and how to approach it with kindness.
What is Emotional Numbness?
Definition and Symptoms
Emotional numbness is a state where we feel less emotional response to internal and external events. This can show up as no emotional expression, reduced emotional intensity or feeling disconnected from our emotions. At the extreme and chronic end of the spectrum people describe emotional numbness as feeling empty or dead inside, often feeling indifferent or not caring about anything. This is a symptom of several mental health conditions including depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Understanding emotional numbness is key as it can impact our quality of life and overall mental health.
@covapsychology Feeling emotionally numb is something that many of us experience from time to time, especially when faced with challenging or painful situations. #therapytiktok #mentalhealthawareness #mentalhealthmatters #psychologistsoftiktok #therapist #mentalhealth #traumatherapy #foryoupage #ptsdawareness #traumahealing ♬ original sound - Cova Psychology | Psychologist
Table of Contents
The Nervous System
The Stress Response and Emotional Regulation
Our nervous system is responsible for emotional regulation. When we’re stressed or traumatised the nervous system responds by releasing stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. This natural stress response can sometimes lead to emotional numbing as a coping mechanism to avoid feeling difficult emotions. But when stress becomes chronic or overwhelming it can disrupt the body’s natural stress response system and leave us feeling numb for good. A mental health professional can help us understand how the nervous system affects emotional regulation and teach us how to manage stress and emotions.
Numbness as a Protective Mechanism
At its heart emotional numbness is a protective strategy developed by our mind and nervous system. We feel numb when we’re faced with overwhelming emotions. When we’re faced with overwhelming emotions our system may shut down the emotional response to help us cope. This is called emotional numbing and it’s a coping mechanism for emotional and physical pain. For some it’s because the emotions are too painful to process in the moment. For others it’s because we need to focus on more immediate things or tasks and dealing with intense emotions is just too distracting. Whatever the reason emotional numbness is our body’s way of protecting us.
Causes of Numbness
Trauma, Stress and Mental Health Conditions
Emotional numbness can come from many sources including trauma, stress and underlying mental health conditions. Traumatic experiences like a car accident or physical abuse can lead to emotional numbing as a way to cope with the emotions associated with the trauma. Mental health conditions like depression and anxiety are also common causes of emotional numbness. Excessive worry and chronic stress can also contribute to this state. A mental health professional trained in trauma informed care can help us identify the root causes of our numbness and teach us how to cope with these.
Normalising Numbness
Instead of seeing numbness as emotional failure we can normalise it as part of our response system. Feeling numb doesn’t mean we can’t feel; it’s a temporary state where our mind takes a break from overwhelming negative emotions. We can approach this feeling with gratitude and acknowledge that our internal protective system is giving us space until we’re ready to process the emotions. In a way this is our nervous system saying “I’ve got this for now, you can take a moment.”
Numbness is Temporary
One of the most important things about emotional numbness is that it’s usually a temporary state. While we may not feel our emotions immediately the feelings beneath the numbness including emotional pain are still there and will surface eventually. For some this may be minutes or hours, for others it may be days or weeks. Whatever the timeframe the emotions we’ve numbed ourselves to will surface and we need to be prepared for when that happens.
Preparing for the Emotional Pain Beneath Numbness
While numbness can be a helpful short term coping mechanism we need to be ready for when the emotions surface. Re-engaging with our own feelings is key during this time as understanding and articulating our emotional responses will help us cope better. One way to do this is to plan how we’ll take care of ourselves when the emotions come up. This might mean setting aside time for self care activities that help us process feelings such as journaling, meditation or calming hobbies. We might also consider reaching out to someone who can emotionally support us through this time whether it’s a friend, family member or therapist.
When Numbness Lasts Longer: See a Mental Health Professional
For most of us emotional numbness is a short term state but when it lasts longer it may mean something deeper. Persistent numbness can mean an underlying mental health condition like depression or anxiety. Ongoing feelings of numbness can sometimes be a feature of dissociation or dissociative disorders. If you find numbness is becoming a part of your emotional landscape see a psychologist. Working with a mental health professional can help you understand and address the underlying causes of ongoing dissociation and guide you towards healthier emotional processing.
Final Thoughts
Feeling numb is a natural and functional part of our response system. By normalising this and understanding it’s temporary we can prepare ourselves for when the underlying emotions surface. With the right self care and emotional support we can navigate through numbness and come out the other side with more emotional clarity and resilience. And if numbness becomes more persistent see a mental health professional trained in trauma informed care to get the support you need. Contact us at Cova Psychology if you’re looking for professional psychological support.
Dr. Chris Coleiro
Chris is Clinical Psychologist and a co-director of Cova Psychology, located in the Melbourne CBD, where he provides supervision to psychologists whilst cultivating a supportive culture within the Cova team. Chris has worked extensively in the assessment and treatment of trauma, PTSD, and Borderline Personality Disorder. He combines a range of therapies in his approach including CBT, Schema Therapy, EMDR and IFS. Chris is a member of the Australian Psychological Society (APS), the APS college of Clinical Psychology, and of the Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing Australian Association (EMDRAA).
