When first starting antidepressants, you may not feel like yourself. Though your depression symptoms might have improved, feelings of extreme sadness can sometimes be replaced by an emotional numbness in which you are neither able to cry nor enjoy a real belly laugh. If you feel this way, you are definitely not alone.
Addressing emotional blunting with support
Antidepressants change the way your brain uses certain chemicals (called neurotransmitters) to better regulate your mood and behavior. They can also rewire your brain through a process called neuroplasticity.
Emotional blunting was defined using a validated screening question [16]: 'Emotional effects of depression and treatment vary, but may include, for example, feeling emotionally “numbed” or “blunted” in some way; lacking positive emotions or negative emotions; feeling detached from the world around you; or 'just not ...
The evidence clearly shows that recovery is possible and common, but the timeline varies dramatically from person to person. While some individuals experience relief within weeks of discontinuation, others may require months or years to fully regain their emotional range.
One of the widely-reported side effects of SSRIs is 'blunting', where patients report feeling emotionally dull and no longer finding things as pleasurable as they used to. Between 40-60% of patients taking SSRIs are believed to experience this side effect.
Emotional blunting means you may not feel positive or negative emotions. It occurs in people with depression, schizophrenia, and posttraumatic stress disorder. When we are numb to positive emotions but not negative ones, that's called anhedonia. It's a common symptom of depression and other mental health conditions.
Emotional detachment is a potential side effect of SSRIs due to changes in the levels of serotonin in the brain. Serotonin is a chemical that helps regulate mood and emotions.
Trauma, prolonged stress, anxiety, depression and grief all contribute to feeling emotionally shut down. Nemmers says medication, while lifesaving for many, can also trigger a side effect of emotional numbness. Additionally, he says to keep in mind everyone internalizes and interprets trauma differently.
The fact that in the present study an inability to cry was associated with a range of SSRIs with differing secondary effects suggests that it is the primary action on increasing synaptic availability of serotonin which mediates the effect.
Antidepressants can often alleviate symptoms of depression and make life better for people with major depressive disorder (MDD). However, for the millions of Americans who take antidepressants, these medications may also cause “emotional blunting.”
Other studies suggest apathy improves after the discontinuation of SSRIs or augmentation with dopaminergic agents such as bupropion.
Research from 2019 suggests that bipolar disorder and schizophrenia medications, like clozapine (Clozaril) or risperidone (Risperdal), may cause emotional numbing. Other medications, such as hormonal birth control and beta-blockers, may cause depression in some people. Emotional blunting can be a symptom of depression.
What is the cause of feeling numb? Feeling emotionally numb commonly arises as an unconscious protective response to feeling difficult emotions, whether due to anxiety, stress or trauma. Experts regard it as a form of dissociation, a process that allows us to unconsciously protect ourselves from emotional pain.
Dopaminergic agonists seem to be effective for apathy. Acetylcholine esterase inhibitors, methylphenidate, atypical antipsychotics, nicergoline, and cilostazol are another choice.
Know the 5 signs of Emotional Suffering
There are in fact a number of reasons why someone might be emotionally numb however, such as anxiety, BPD, grief, depression, medications, mental or emotional abuse, stress, physical abuse, and substance misuse, so it's always best to speak to your GP about this.
The limbic system is a network of interconnected structures deeply involved in processing emotions. Often considered the brain's “emotional core,” this system plays a central role in generating feelings and controlling emotional behaviors.
Some studies reported that dissociative effects are linked to the antidepressant efficacy, while others found no evidence for such an association.
Antidepressant-induced emotional blunting (AIEB) is a reduction in the ability to experience emotions (both positive and negative) that affects ~40–60% of patients on antidepressants, particularly SSRIs and SNRIs.
Coming off antidepressants is known to trigger physical symptoms, such as restlessness, fatigue and excessive sweating, but new research suggests people can also experience emotional and social difficulties, and changes in their thinking patterns when they stop taking antidepressants like Prozac.
Emotional blunting is a commonly reported side effect of taking antidepressants for depression and other mental health issues. It affects 46% of people taking antidepressants for depression. That's according to a three-country survey by the University of Oxford.
Depression and Anger
Women frequently show sadness, guilt or a noticeably depressed face. Men, however, often exhibit irritability, anger, risk-taking or substance use. Because they may not cry or seem sad, they might not recognize depression in themselves. Children and adolescents also show anger more than sadness.
What is Emotional Atrophy? Emotional atrophy is the gradual weakening of the very human traits that once defined great leadership: empathy, intuition, emotional intelligence, ingenuity, patience, presence, and the capacity to inspire.