(Emotional) Numbness

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(Emotional) Numbness

Key Points: Numbness ...

... is reversible

Always a result of stabilization and processing

EC has the potential to reverse numbing

if it was acquired

usually, takes a lot of effort and time

more difficult to reverse the earlier in life it was acquired

partially or completely

in most cases

provided an effective approach

... can be general or specific/isolated

like having "blind spots" on your empathy-map

a person can be numb towards one or more specific situations or emotions

... is inversely/negatively correlated with empathy.

Empathy

... has the most fundamental impact on how individuals experience their lives.

I believe it is often not given the importance it deserves.

It impacts ...

...

... maturing and personal development

... all our relationships

It shapes our sense of meaning - which is, in the end, our essence.

Meaning

Life is what you feel.

... and when you are numb, you feel less.

Musings

I call emotional numbness a hidden consequence of trauma because people just say well this is who I am now it doesn't really count as a symptom

- the moment something died inside of you - a part of yourself died

Pain and numbness both make me suspicious. Numb is the scar resulting from pain. Not as functional. - not morals as a guide

when individuals are numbing, they are always experiencing something that causes pain in their emotional structure

if many individuals are affected, this can be attributed to a fundamental conflict of that causal experience with "human nature"

need to separate Human Nature from Emotional Structure here

Neurophysiological mechanisms

Behavioral mechanisms

Avoidance

Research

Alexithymia / Causes

Hypotheses:

cognitive-behavioral mechanisms:

not minding the pain, repetitively, systematically

i.e. not giving it importance/meaning

thereby decreasing attention towards it

dissociation

frequent!

Causes

inherited

structural features of the brain cause numbness (e.g. in sociopaths)

... a phenomenon similar

acquired

Examples

Jacob Blake paralysed by shooting, his father says: "I'm not sorry. I'm angry. And I'm tired. I haven't cried one time. I stopped crying years ago. I am numb. ..."

Posttraumatic emotional numbness in a child - Example from "The Colony" Scene Netflix Series

Debunking common myths about emotions

usually as a result of ...

(psychological) Trauma

as a result of a natural defense mechanism

Something has been too painful - that leads to shunning of that emotion

most frequent

Definition

2 kinds of emotional numbing/numbness

Numbing

the process to become (emotionally) numb

... is a symptom

... not a personality trait

... not a condition

Features

reduced Empathy!

this is why I prefer "numbness" over Alexithymia

... a state of reduced empathy.

/ ... loss of empathy [see. Causes]

Emotional Numbness is a state of reduced or absent emotional response to a stimulus or thought that is reasonably likely to trigger an emotional response (in most people).

There are situations where defense mechanisms

wip

I am comparing here in this definition to "most people", which is somewhat ambiguous.

Terminology

Synonyms

Impassiveness

being impassive

Emotionlessness

being emotionless

Alexithymia

People with the condition:

"alexithymiac"

"alexithymic"

Associated with / A feature of certain pathologies, like:

Eating disorders

... others

Bulimia

Anorexia nervosa

As medical term

“… the conclusion is reached that patients with these characteristics may not be good candidates for dynamic psychotherapy.” (Sifneos 1973)

I think this is a tragic conclusion. Those patients need it the most - but of course you have to start slowly. The stabilization phase might be long and a bit tedious for the therapist - but it is worth it.

Emotional Stabilization / Challenges

“… relative constriction in emotional functioning, poverty of fantasy life, and inability to find appropriate words to describe their emotions.” (Sifneos 1973)

Sifneos, P. E. (1973): The prevalence of 'alexithymic' characteristics in psychosomatic patients. In Psychotherapy and psychosomatics 22 (2), pp. 255–262. DOI: 10.1159/000286529.

Good source for etymology and first use in literature

Wikipedia

For simplicity I use "numbness" for emotional numbness in many places.