Emotional blunting is a condition present in many psychiatric disorders, including depression, schizophrenia (26) and post-traumatic stress disorder (27). As its name suggests, emotional blunting refers to a sense of numbing of both positive and negative emotions.
Emotional blunting means you are numb to both positive and negative emotions. You can't seem to cry or feel sad about things that normally would make you sad. You also can't seem to laugh or smile at things that would normally make you happy.
Someone with a blunted affect displays little feeling in emotional contexts. For example, a person recalling their father's death might simply recount the factual details of the death. The person might not share much information about how they felt. They may show little facial expression or speak in a monotone voice.
Causes of emotional blunting
Emotional blunting is most commonly linked to taking antidepressant medications, but a range of underlying conditions could also cause it.
Whether you've been addicted to a drug used as an antidepressant or have been prescribed one for a mental health diagnosis, healing from emotional blunting is possible. Sometimes, it takes time; other times, you can work with your doctor to adjust your dosage or type of antidepressant.
Over time, emotional blunting can create a lack of emotional intimacy in relationships. The partner that isn't taking medication may feel abandoned or overlooked due to their partner's behavior while the partner that is taking medication may feel frustrated by the side effects they are experiencing2 .
Emotional detachment can also be "emotional numbing", "emotional blunting", i.e., dissociation, depersonalization or in its chronic form depersonalization disorder.
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.
The mental health conditions most often associated with emotional numbness are depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Emotional numbness can also come up in some dissociative disorders, which are connected with a personal history of trauma.
Feeling emotionally numb, like your emotions have somehow become blunted, or that you have no emotions at all are common symptoms of anxiety disorder. Many anxious, depressed, and stressed people experience feeling emotionally numb. It's also a common symptom associated with sleep problems, such as insomnia.
Reduced affect display, sometimes referred to as emotional blunting or emotional numbing, is a condition of reduced emotional reactivity in an individual.
Result: The experience of trauma produces very intense emotions such as overwhelming fear, horror, and anxiety, and these reactions can linger for a lifetime. Many trauma survivors also report restrictions in their emotional experience - a phenomenon most commonly referred to as emotional numbing.
Apathy therefore falls short of WHO's definition of optimal health. Apathy is different from a reduction in emotional display or expression (emotional blunting) where individuals fail to express their feelings or emotions, though emotion itself is not intrinsically reduced.
The opposite of blunted affect is expressing emotions in the ways we usually expect to see it. People using the full range of ways to express emotion have regular changes in their facial expressions and tone of voice as they transition between different emotions.
The good news is that emotional blunting can be treated. Among some of the options to consider: You can engage in exercise and outdoor activities, both of which may stimulate serotonin and elevate your mood. 10 Eating healthier and avoiding alcohol (a mood depressant) can also help.
Mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, and mood disorders can cause social withdrawal and isolation. Socialising can feel like a chore when you're struggling with your mental health, and it can be hard to be truly present with others when your mind feels messy.
Trauma-Related Dissociation is sometimes described as a 'mental escape' when physical escape is not possible, or when a person is so emotionally overwhelmed that they cannot cope any longer. Sometimes dissociation is like 'switching off'. Some survivors describe it as a way of saying 'this isn't happening to me'.
These feelings may describe emotional numbness, a state of generalized disconnection, disinterest, and detachment. Emotional numbness may prevent you from experiencing the full range of emotions like pleasure, joy, and love.
A few causes of feeling empty in a relationship include: Over-dependence on partner to meet all emotional needs. Emotional needs not getting met in the relationship. Lack of emotional connection, quality time, or physical connection.
Suppressed emotions stay in the body. The effects of suppressed emotions include anxiety, depression, and other stress-related illnesses. Such suppression can lead to alcohol and substance abuse. (Read more about the link between childhood trauma and addiction here.)
Anhedonia (the inability to anticipate and experience pleasure) is one aspect of emotional blunting in patients with depression and is one of the core diagnostic criteria for a major depressive episode [8]. Although there is overlap between emotional blunting and anhedonia, these symptoms are not identical.