We can learn to appear emotionless by hiding our emotions to avoid being vulnerable. If you are interested in hiding your emotions, here is a useful guide on how to become emotionless. If you wonder why you’ve suddenly become emotionally numb or been numb to emotion for a long time, reaching out to a mental health professional may help you explore possible answers. Becoming emotionally numb may be a way of preventing intense emotions from overwhelming your coping ability. It can be an experience that protects you in the moment, or remains with you long term, depending on the challenges you face.

In this state, you can put down your emotions and prevent them from intruding your mental state. You can choose from different types of meditation such as Huna and Vipassana. The most basic form of meditation–deeply breathing while closing eyes will loosen your emotions.

Please don’t give yourself a hard time if you break down in tears or get waves of extreme anger or fear. Once those waves have passed, everything will be considerably calmer. This can actually have a beneficial effect as you’re trying to be emotionless. Quite simply, if you look as though you aren’t feeling fear, anger, sorrow, etc., then you can temporarily trick your mind and body into believing that’s true. It’s kind of like encouraging yourself to be happier by smiling and laughing more.

Why does someone become emotionally numb?

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) gives you the opportunity to express and understand your emotions, as well as examine the sources of those emotional responses. It addresses how certain thoughts may be contributing to your emotions. Psychotherapy may support the learning and the use of emotion-focused problem-solving tools. You may learn to allow feelings to emerge and to process them in the safe environment of therapy.

Keep a journal.

This means that you’ve been so effective at becoming emotionless when you’ve needed to that there’s been a glitch when you want to turn those emotions back on. You’ve what is a reduced value had to shut down that particular circuit in order to do some work, but when you try to shift it back on, it catches. Do you need to try to stop a serious wound from bleeding profusely?

It’s never a bad idea to try and mitigate the bad emotions that we can sometimes be subjected to. However, not feeling them at all can put us out of touch with our good feelings, too. This is why there’s such a delicate line to walk when it comes to mastering emotionlessness.

Feeling numb can be a coping mechanism to avoid dealing with a dangerous and frightening situation. Feeling emotionally numb can be a side effect of some medications that treat depression and anxiety. If you’re taking an antidepressant and feeling emotionally numb, it’s essential to work closely with your doctor. They may choose to adjust your dosage or change the medication altogether. Dr. Mendez points out that people going through depressive episodes may be less attuned to their feelings, or experience a dulling of emotions. “Higher levels of depression and mood dysregulation result in a greater propensity for emotional numbing,” she adds.

Overwhelming Stress

Have you ever flown off the handle when angry and said (or did) things that caused irreparable damage? Words spoken and actions taken when emotions are running high can’t just be “taken back.” The person (or people) you lash out at can’t or won’t forget how you’ve behaved toward them. Being in tune with your emotions is a great thing, and it can lead to deeper connections and more awareness overall. However, when your emotions control you, they can seriously affect your ability to perform and to think clearly in crucial situations. You can’t get rid of your emotions completely, but you can keep emotions from taking over your life. The critical thing to remember about advice is that you shouldn’t depend on it.

1. Blunted or flat affect, though similar to emotional numbness, is often specific to the expression of emotions, and is a state commonly seen among those living with schizophrenia.
2. This can end up damaging their personal relationships, as they won’t be able to feel empathy (or many other emotions) toward their friends, parents, partners, or children.
3. For people with PTSD, this can manifest as avoiding thoughts, feelings, or conversations relating to a traumatic event.
4. Feel yourself drawing from that stillness and strength, as though you’re made of the same substance your feet are resting upon.

Whichever therapy you choose, getting help can provide you with a safe place to express and approach your emotions so that you’re no longer feeling numb. People with schizophrenia may go through periods of time where they feel complete apathy or disinterest as well as emotional numbness or blunting. People with BPD may experience periods of emotional detachment or numbness. When this happens, you may feel temporary relief that allows you to move on.

Too much pain, be it physical, mental, or emotional, can cause its fair share of problems. The ability to become emotionless when inside tense situations is valuable, and it can be an excellent method of de-escalation and conflict resolution. “Emotional numbing can be a way for someone to attempt to escape an emotionally triggering situation in the moment as well as over long periods of time,” says Roest-Gyimah. Katie Ziskind, a licensed marriage and family therapist in Niantic, Connecticut, explains that emotional numbness can exist on a spectrum of severity, depending on the cause. Blunted or flat affect, though similar to emotional numbness, is often specific to the expression of emotions, and is a state commonly seen among those living with schizophrenia. Apathy and a general sense of disconnection may be signs of emotional numbness, but they don’t necessarily mean you’re incapable of emotion.

See yourself an observer and not active participant in a situation that stirs your emotions. Remove your emotions from your responses to situations and people that cause your emotions to erupt. Keep trying to remove your emotions until giving emotionless responses becomes automatic. Identifying and treating underlying challenges related to trauma or mental health disorders may be one way to overcome emotional numbness.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Try to include some form of exercise or physical activity most days of the week. There are a variety of treatment options available that can help you reduce the extent to which you try to escape, disengage from, or avoid your emotions. I don’t open up to people easily and feel like it causes problems. Too many people try to muddle through and do their best to overcome issues that they never really get to grips with.

This will make the person feel seen and respected, while also keeping you from losing your cool. Then, once the storm has passed, they allow the emotions back into themselves so they can deal with them. Some people find it helpful to wear or carry a talisman of some sort that they can shift their emotions into when needed.