Emotional numbness, or emotional blunting, refers to a reduced ability to experience both positive and negative emotions. This can manifest as a lack of joy, sadness, anger, or even fear—leaving you feeling emotionally flat or disconnected from your feelings.
You might find yourself unable to enjoy activities or hobbies you once found fulfilling, or you might be less emotionally reactive in general. For some, emotional numbness is temporary—following a traumatic event, or during times of extreme stress. For others, it can become a persistent state that feels difficult to escape.
Emotional numbness may be a sign of a mental health condition, including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). In some cases, emotional blunting can be a side effect of medication. Understanding where your numbness is coming from is an important first step for addressing the issue. Read on to learn more about the signs of emotional numbness, possible causes, and how to get help.
Signs of emotional numbness
Not everyone experiences emotional numbness the same way. You might find that you no longer react to events the way you once did, or you may feel numb internally without showing any outward signs. Some people describe it as feeling outside of their body, or dissociated from their environment. Others may feel empty and isolated.
Common signs can include:
- Feeling like nothing really matters
- Reduced pleasure in activities that you used to enjoy and care about (also known as anhedonia)
- Feeling detached from yourself or your environment
- Flat affect, or the inability to convey emotions
- Lack of facial expressions that showcase how you feel
- Low energy and lack of motivation (also known as avolition)
- Physical symptoms like fatigue
For some, emotional numbness can feel like a double-edged sword. “It feels like a break from being in constant dread and agony, but it also takes away my hope and happiness,” one NOCD member says.
Others may find that emotional blunting makes them lose touch with their sense of self: “Nothing makes me happy, sad, angry, anxious, or just upset in general…It’s almost like I turn into a completely different person and forget who I am,” another NOCD member comments.
It’s important to note that emotional numbness affects people differently, and its intensity can vary from person to person.
What causes emotional numbness?
There are a number of factors that can cause emotional numbness including:
- Depression: Emotional blunting is a common symptom in people with depression. Chemical changes in the brain can make it difficult to access a full range of emotions.
- Anxiety: Sometimes when you’re anxious, your brain copes with overwhelming stress by dissociating—disconnecting from the present moment and any emotions you may be feeling.
- Stress: Increased levels of cortisol, the stress hormone in the body, can affect the brain’s ability to regulate emotions.
- Trauma: If you’re experiencing trauma, you may have difficulty managing your emotions. It’s not uncommon to swing from intense emotions to feelings of numbness, in an effort to avoid emotional pain.
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): People processing past traumas can also default to emotional numbness. “If someone with PTSD is avoiding feeling…then they are signaling to their brain that the emotion is unsafe to feel or process,” licensed therapist Shawna Ecklind, MA, LMFT says.
- Medications: Emotional numbness can be a side effect of medications, including SSRIs, SNRIs (serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors), and other antidepressants or mood stabilizers.
- Fatigue: Chronic physical fatigue or burnout may cause emotional numbness. Like physical energy, emotional energy can become depleted.
Can OCD cause emotional numbness?
OCD is a chronic mental health condition characterized by recurrent, intrusive thoughts, sensations, images, feelings, or urges (known as obsessions) that cause anxiety. This can look like an extreme need for perfection, an intense fear of contamination, or unwanted thoughts about harming yourself or others. Generally, these fears go against what you truly believe or desire, causing overwhelming distress. In response to these obsessions, someone with OCD performs compulsions—repetitive behaviors or mental acts, in an attempt to decrease that anxiety or distress.
While OCD is typically not a distinct cause of emotional numbness, it can contribute to and coincide with other common causes and factors, including depression, anxiety and dissociation.
OCD and depression
OCD and depression are often connected, with more than 50% of people with OCD meeting diagnosis criteria for major depressive disorder (MDD). Performing compulsions can be time-consuming, overwhelming, and isolating—contributing to feelings of hopelessness and sadness.
“OCD is not known specifically for making people emotionally numb,” says Tracie Ibrahim, LMFT, CST, and Chief Compliance Officer at NOCD. “However, OCD is known for feeding depression, and with depression, emotional numbness is a common side effect.”
Depression is defined by an imbalance of serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine—chemicals that regulate emotional responses. When these neurotransmitters are disrupted, it may make it harder for the brain to process emotions.
OCD and anxiety
OCD is also commonly associated with anxiety. Obsessions often center around fears, and feel difficult to control—triggering intense anxiety. Compulsions can be socially awkward or inappropriate to perform, heightening feelings of social anxiety. Compulsions also only offer temporary relief from the distress of obsessions, reinforcing an anxiety-inducing cycle of OCD.
Because this cycle is so exhausting, OCD can also cause burnout. Emotional numbness and dissociation are common coping mechanisms for these challenges.
OCD and dissociation
As a way of coping with the high levels of emotional distress caused by obsessions and compulsions, some people with OCD may begin to dissociate. Dissociation is a mental state characterized by a sense of disconnection from your current sense of self, environment, feelings, and sensations. In allowing you to detach from reality, dissociation can provide a sense of relief from overwhelming emotions. But, dissociation also often impairs daily functioning, as well as your ability to connect with others.
Treating emotional numbness
Treatment for emotional numbness depends on the cause, severity, and underlying factors contributing to the condition.
If emotional numbness is caused by a mental condition like depression or anxiety, reaching out to a mental health professional can be an important step toward understanding and addressing your symptoms. If you think feelings of emotional numbness are being exacerbated by factors related to OCD, it’s important to consider exposure and response-prevention (ERP) therapy, specifically. In other cases, adjusting your lifestyle to reduce stress and increase opportunities for rest can be enough to make a difference.
Consider ERP therapy
ERP is an evidence-based treatment specialized for OCD, which gradually helps you confront your intrusive thoughts and triggers, while resisting the urge to perform compulsions in response to feelings of anxiety or distress. In doing so, ERP can help you regain control over factors that may be contributing to emotional numbness.
Let’s imagine you’re navigating contamination OCD, a subtype of OCD characterized by obsessions and compulsions that center around germs. Perhaps your fixation on potential contamination in public spaces is causing you to experience significant anxiety and dissociation when trying to socialize in public—leading you to emotionally disconnect and feel numb. ERP therapy would focus on helping you slowly build resilience to these situations, by gradually exposing you to scenarios that trigger your feelings of distress.
Your trained therapist might have you start by touching an object, like a doorknob in your building, and then resist the urge to wash your hands immediately after. Eventually, the exposure would continue to more difficult situations, such as touching items in a public bathroom, or using public transportation. In doing so, you’d build a greater tolerance for being in public social situations, gradually reducing your anxiety and tendency to dissociate. Tackling this exhausting cycle with your therapist might also help you avoid burnout, another common cause of emotional blunting.
ERP exercises can bring up tough emotions at first, but your therapist will be there to support you every step of the way. Eventually, you’ll build the resilience necessary to withstand triggering situations without dissociating or resorting to compulsions.
Find the right OCD therapist for you
All our therapists are licensed and trained in exposure and response prevention therapy (ERP), the gold standard treatment for OCD.
Prioritize sleep, exercise, and nutrition
If your emotional bluntness is caused by stress, burnout, or fatigue, small lifestyle changes can make a big difference. It’s important to get enough sleep and exercise, and take regular breaks throughout your day for self-care.
Lack of sleep has been shown to impact mood and anxiety, and a regular movement routine can actually help you better regulate your emotions. Making space in your schedule for these routines will also help you build time into your day for yourself—a key strategy for fighting burnout.
Call on your support system
Reaching out to loved ones can be incredibly helpful, especially during challenging times. Social and emotional support plays a significant role in overall well-being—offering comfort and a sense of connection, when we may feel otherwise disconnected.
If you’re experiencing emotional numbness, it may take someone close to you to break through any walls you’ve put up. Having someone to talk to can reduce feelings of isolation, which in turn can help you better withstand stress.
Key Takeaways
- Emotional numbness refers to a state in which a person is unable to access both positive and negative emotions.
- A number of factors can contribute to emotional numbness, including depression, anxiety, PTSD, stress, trauma, medications, fatigue, and OCD.
- Understanding the underlying cause of your emotional numbness is an important first step for addressing the problem.
- If your emotional numbness is stemming from issues related to OCD, it’s important to reach out to a trained therapist who specializes in ERP, as it is the most effective way to treat OCD.
- Social support and lifestyle adjustments can also make a big difference in navigating stress, burnout, anxiety, and other causes of emotional numbness.