People who seem to show little emotion often have Schizoid Personality Disorder (SPD), characterized by detachment, preferring solitude, and lack of interest in close relationships, or they might have Alexithymia, a trait making it hard to identify or describe feelings, sometimes linked to autism or trauma, rather than a disorder itself. In personality frameworks like MBTI, certain types (e.g., ISTP, INTP, INTJ) might appear less emotional due to logical processing, but this differs from a true inability to feel.
If you have schizoid personality disorder, you may be seen as keeping to yourself or rejecting others. You may not be interested in or able to form close friendships or romantic relationships. Because you do not tend to show emotion, it may appear that you do not care about others or what's going on around you.
Alexithymia is a personality trait that involves difficulties feeling, identifying, and communicating emotions. Around 10% of us experience alexithymia, but this can differ depending on our genetic makeup, underlying health conditions, and various environmental factors.
Distressed personality type, or "type D" individuals, tend to suppress powerful negative emotions as a means of coping with stressful events or situations.
People may experience episodes of apathy with certain psychological conditions, such as major depression and schizophrenia. In addition, people who experience traumatic events may develop apathy syndrome (indifference and emotional detachment) as a way to protect themselves mentally and prevent further distress.
Ultimately, establishing an emotional connection with someone who struggles to express feelings requires patience, empathy, and a deep understanding of their needs. It also requires an honoring of individual communication styles while maintaining acceptance and respect for your own need for meaningful connection.
Schizoid personality disorder is a psychiatric disorder characterized by a detachment from social relationships and a limited range of emotional expression in interpersonal settings.
Lack of empathy is a core feature of antisocial personality disorder, but this alone should not lead to conclusions of the diagnosis. Narcissistic, obsessive-compulsive, and schizoid personalities all have their own brand of unempathic presentations.
I'd argue that on average, they both experience the same amount of emotions, but they exert them at different rates. INTJs will have a more balanced (albeit, not always healthy) load of internal, somewhat intense feelings. INTPs will remain more stable for longer periods of time but then blow their load all at once.
The top 3 rarest personality types are consistently identified as INFJ (The Advocate), ENTJ (The Commander), and INTJ (The Architect), with INFJ usually being the absolute rarest (around 1.5%), followed by ENTJ (around 1.8%), and INTJ (around 2-3%) of the general population, according to Psych Central, Redeemed Mental Health, and Reddit.
This can be due to a variety of factors, such as trauma, personal choice, or a neurological condition. Emotionless characters often appear aloof, cold, or detached, and may struggle to connect with others on an emotional level. They tend to rely on logic and reason rather than intuition or gut feelings.
BPD behaviors include intense mood swings, unstable relationships, a distorted self-image, impulsivity (like binge eating, spending, risky sex, or substance abuse), chronic feelings of emptiness, frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment, inappropriate intense anger, self-harm (cutting, burning), and recurrent suicidal threats or actions. These behaviors stem from deep emotional pain and difficulty regulating emotions, often causing significant distress in daily life, say experts at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the Mayo Clinic.
It has been described in multiple disorders including Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal dementia, Huntington's disease, major depressive disorder, Parkinson's Disease, schizophrenia, cerebrovascular disease, traumatic brain injury, and vascular dementia [5].
Anhedonia is a common symptom of depression and shows up in a lot of mental health conditions. Losing the ability to feel or express emotions can be a sign of other mental health conditions like psychosis, trauma, or autism.
However, just because someone is emotionally unavailable does not mean they cannot fall in love. In fact, many people who are emotionally unavailable are simply afraid of getting hurt. They may have been hurt in the past, or they may be afraid of being vulnerable.
Saying 'I'm sorry' does nothing towards resolving a problem. If you offended me and I value the relationship I take the time to explain why I was offended or I let it go. Otherwise you're not really worth my time so why make a big deal anyway. If you feel sorry just don't do that thing again.
Cancer and Pisces are the most emotionally intelligent; in other words, they excel at recognizing and reasoning with their own and others' feelings.
Most INTJs don't feel comfortable with crying or any overt expression of emotion. They will often attempt to hold their sadness in for a long time, until it boils over. INTJs cry because they have gone too long without allowing themselves to recognize their emotional state.
Least Sensitive Type: ISTJ
ISTJs prefer to concentrate on material necessities rather than emotions. However, they put a lot of effort into making sure their loved ones are taken care of. Because they lack emotional sensitivity, ISTJs frequently choose to suppress their feelings in order to accomplish their goals.
Childhood maltreatment, including various forms of physical, emotional, and sexual, abuse and neglect, significantly harms interpersonal functioning across a person's life, indicating abnormalities in processes related to empathy (Pfaltz et al., 2022; Fares-Otero et al., 2023).
An apathetic individual has an absence of interest in or concern about emotional, social, spiritual, philosophical, virtual, or physical life and the world. Apathy can also be defined as a person's lack of goal orientation.
Quiet BPD is often accompanied by fear in social settings. Individuals constantly worry that they will say something wrong, act inappropriately, or be judged and exiled by others. They act fine around others, but internally, they isolate themselves further.
The most commonly diagnosed personality disorders are borderline personality disorder and antisocial personality disorder. Another personality disorder that primary care practitioners sometimes find difficult to diagnose and treat is narcissistic personality disorder.
Characteristics of Emotional Unavailability
Difficulty talking about feelings and emotions. Lack of closeness and emotional intimacy in relationships. Inability to understand and relate to others' feelings. Defensiveness when asked to change or let others in.