Can't Feel Anything - Emotional Numbness

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racheypie666
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27 Jan 2017, 7:09 pm

I'm not really sure what the point of this thread is, I don't think (from experience) that I can fix this problem.

I'm not an emotionally expressive person at the best of times, though I do have emotions. Sometimes, however, I have long periods of time where I can't feel anything. There's just this disconnect - I'm aware that I should be feeling love, enjoyment, sadness etc. at an interaction, but there's nothing there.

8 days ago now I woke up with feelings, and then suddenly felt them drain from me, without any obvious cause. They haven't come back yet, in over a week, and its starting to get to me.

I seem false and almost guilty to myself as I try to express the emotions I know I ought to have. I say almost guilty because I don't have the stuff to feel actual guilt. I can't make myself feel.

So, yeah. I'm a fraud. I'm trying to make it all OK by pretending there's nothing wrong with me - after all, why should I make another person suffer for my psych problems?- but I wish I didn't have to. I want to say I love and I am happy and to mean it, to really feel it, rather than forcing and feeling from my memory.

:|



the_phoenix
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27 Jan 2017, 7:23 pm

First of all, I would say, don't feel guilty about not feeling emotions right now.
Feelings come, feelings go.
Not even NTs are in complete control, even an NT with perfect mental health.

A couple of questions to ask yourself may include,
are you getting enough sleep? Exercise?
Decent food? (Not just junk food.)
Is there anything stressful or hard to deal with going on in your life right now?
Or on the other hand, are you bored such that there's not enough stress in your life?
(There's an actual good kind of stress, the kind that gives you a nice challenge ...)
Maybe a warm, relaxing bath with Epsom salts would help?
Or enjoying tea and chocolates?
(Okay, so chocolates can be considered junk food ...) :)

Beyond that ...
love is not simply an emotion.
Love is caring about somebody else
and doing something good for that person
even when you don't feel like it.

And smiling when you don't feel like it
can be a sign of kindness toward someone,
so when you look at it like that,
it's no fraud at all ...
it's that you're wishing someone well,
trying to brighten their day.
And that's a noble thing. :)

Hope you will feel better soon!