ɪ ғᴇᴇʟ ɴᴏᴛʜɪɴɢ. ɪs ᴇᴍᴏᴛɪᴏɴᴀʟ ɴᴜᴍʙɴᴇss ɴᴏʀᴍᴀʟ? ʜᴏᴡ ᴛᴏ ᴅᴇᴀʟ ᴡɪᴛʜ ɪᴛ?

 

Sometimes all that we feel is nothing. It’s blank. B-L-A-N-K. Your mind is just empty.

There might be emotional numbness or a sense of disconnection from the real world. Everything might seem black & white or less colorful somehow.

It may sound paradoxical at first but this is the reality of a lot of people. Emotional numbness is also called as ‘affective blunting’. It can linked with states like depersonalization or dissociation. Individuals may feel detached and often unable to feel.

 

WHY DO YOU FEEL THIS WAY?

 It is often associated with depression or stress or any other mental illness. Scientists say that emotional numbness may occur when the limbic system is flooded with stress hormones.

Humans tend to prevent themselves from feeling pain either because of the stigma that surrounds mental illnesses of because they choose to live in denial.

WHAT TO DO?

·Acknowledge your emotions

Instead of avoiding your thoughts and emotions, try to feel them. Feel it out. If needed talk to a therapist, cry your heart out and let it be.

·Move

Exercise, go to the gym, go rock climbing, go for a walk or if none of these sounds appealing, do what used to make you feel better.

·Grounding Techniques

These can be physical or mental.

§  Put your hands in water.

§  Breathe deeply.

§  Hold a piece of ice.

§  Recite something.

§  Play a memory game.

§  Imagine yourself leaving the painful things behind you.

§  List favorites.

§  Plan an activity.

§  Picture the voice or face of someone you love.

Now that you know what to do next, know that you are or alone in this. Since this pandemic has created new barriers for people already suffering from mental illnesses, you might need to know how to deal with the new normal. Read my previous blog about how to ‘Relearn to socialize post COVID’.

Reach out to us in case you need a safe space to talk @roohbrew