What is \u201cemotional numbness\u201d?<\/p>\n
Mighty contributor Elizabeth Duff shared how she defines it in her piece, \u201cWhen Depression Makes Me Numb, Not Sad\u201d<\/p>\n
One symptom I wish more people understood is feeling numb. A sense of hollowness \u2014 like a dull, numb lump \u2014 often defines me when I\u2019m really down. It\u2019s a shitty, zombie state of gray flatness. Life passes by and you won\u2019t bother to wave at it because you don\u2019t really care. In fact, you just don\u2019t really feel anything.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s not the only one who has felt this way, so our friends at The Mighty asked their community to share something they do because they\u2019re emotionally \u201cnumb.\u201d You can read what they shared below.<\/p>\n
Here are things people don\u2019t realize you\u2019re doing because you\u2019re emotionally \u201cnumb\u201d:<\/p>\n
1. You Isolate<\/strong> 2. You \u201cOverreact\u201d or Don\u2019t React at All<\/strong> 3. You Have Trouble Hearing and Processing What\u2019s Going on Around You<\/strong> 4. You Don\u2019t Laugh Out Loud Anymore<\/strong> \u00a0<\/p>\n 5. You Are Extra Forgetful<\/strong> 6. You \u201cZone Out\u201d<\/strong> 7. You Have No Desire to Date<\/strong> 8. You Sleep a Lot<\/strong> \u00a0<\/p>\n 9. You Pick Fights to Feel Something<\/strong> 10. You Put Yourself in \u201cRisky\u201d Situations<\/strong> 11. You Seem \u201cRobotic\u201d<\/strong> 12. You Experience More Anxiety and Panic Attacks<\/strong> \u00a0<\/p>\n 13. You Distract Yourself Frequently<\/strong> 14. You Have Trouble Following Social Cues<\/strong> 15. You Self-Medicate<\/strong> 16. You Seem \u201cEmotionless\u201d<\/strong> If you can relate to feeling numb, you\u2019re not alone. Whether you\u2019re struggling with numbness from a struggle with mental illness symptoms, the impact of trauma, grief or something else, The Mighty\u00a0want you to know they\u00a0see you.\u00a0If you\u2019re struggling, they\u00a0encourage you to\u00a0post a Thought or Question\u00a0about it on the site to get support from other people in our community who get it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This article was originally published by our partners at The Mighty. <\/p>\n Share image by Sodanie Chea\/Flickr<\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What is \u201cemotional numbness\u201d? Mighty contributor Elizabeth Duff shared how she defines it in her piece, \u201cWhen Depression Makes Me Numb, Not Sad\u201d One symptom I wish more people understood is feeling numb. A sense of hollowness \u2014 like a dull, numb lump \u2014 often defines me when I\u2019m really down. It\u2019s a shitty, zombie…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/971\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u201cI isolate myself behind the \u2018introvert\u2019 behavior when really, I\u2019m hiding. I\u2019m barely out in public. When I do, it\u2019s usually forced \u2014 shopping, events or errands. I make myself go out to do those things. Point A (work) to point B ( home) is all I focus on.\u201d \u2014 Janelle F.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cI\u2019m in the \u2018either or\u2019 mode\u2026 either I overreacted or I don\u2019t react at all.. I can be functional with a smile, but inside I\u2019m completely numb.\u201d \u2014 Ashley W.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWhen I go numb, I basically stop hearing and stop processing most of the world around me, going into work mode so people just assume I\u2019m busy or in a bad mood.\u201d \u2014 Cathryn C.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cSomething I\u2019ve noticed I\u2019ve been doing lately is not reacting externally if, say, I watch a funny YouTube video, but I can still feel myself laughing internally. It\u2019s like my brain knows it\u2019s funny, but I have no outward expression whatsoever.\u201d \u2014 Katie S.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cDay-to-day I\u2019ll be extra forgetful, forget to message people back, have to ask people to repeat things and might seem like I\u2019m not listening when I\u2019m actually just not present. I get extra clumsy too and tend to knock things over or walk into things. When I\u2019m conscious it\u2019s happening and can\u2019t seem to get back to reality, I tend to switch onto self-destruct mode to try and get some feeling back.\u201d \u2014 Harriet L.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cI zone out to the point I\u2019m only physically there, but mentally elsewhere and emotionally dead. I will just sit and not interact with people or my surroundings. If I\u2019m walking, I will hold onto the person and that\u2019s the only way I stay with them.\u201d \u2014 Raven M.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cA different one for me is dating. Some don\u2019t understand how I can go such long periods of time being single, without even showing interest in dating, but it was the last thing on my mind.\u201d \u2014 Amanda Z.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cSleeping in the middle of the day.\u201d \u2014 Emily S.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cPersonally, when I go numb, I try to pick fights with my fianc\u00e9, in order to get a reaction of emotion, since I can\u2019t feel any emotion myself and me trying to push him away since I am uncomfortable with myself. Then, once the battle is over and my numbing state is satisfied, it is as though I come back, with a full experience of emotions, and begin to cry because I feel so horrible for words I didn\u2019t mean, despite not being able to explain what happened. Overall, it seems like for a brief time, I lose myself completely and all control of my mental processing.\u201d \u2014 Autumn T.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cSomething people don\u2019t realize I\u2019m doing because I\u2019m emotionally numb is placing myself in risky situations. I\u2019m willing to come to harm physically and\/or emotionally so that I feel something \u2014 anything \u2014 other than the \u2018nothingness\u2019 of being numb.\u201d \u2014 Louisa T.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cI say exactly what I am thinking. I turn into a robot I have very little empathy and my body language and voice are flatlined. When I am numb like that, I\u2019m usually trapped in my head \u2014 sitting, staring and waiting to come back to myself.\u201d \u2014 Nicole S.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cHaving panic attacks instead of feeling negative emotions. I don\u2019t like being mad or sad. I\u2019m numb to those negative emotions because of trauma and PTSD. I just get anxious instead.\u201d \u2014 Liz T.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cI begin to distract myself by playing games on my phone, or I clean. I do whatever I can because I become so uncomfortable I cannot sit in the anxiety and discomfort.\u201d \u2014 Dana B.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cI interrupt. I don\u2019t hear lots of what is happening, I have trouble following social cues and I just interrupt people.\u201d \u2014 Kristy G.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cI pretend I\u2019m happy and not affected by the situation at all, while I go numb myself physically with substances.\u201d \u2014 Lauryn L.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cI\u2019m totally emotionless. I don\u2019t get excited, or show facial expressions.\u201d \u2014 Justin L.<\/p>\n