I’m not angry. I’m not sad. I’m not really anything anymore. Someone turned the volume down on every emotion I’ve. I show up to work, come home, eat, stare at the TV, go to bed. Same thing tomorrow.
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My girlfriend says I’m “checked out.” She’s right. But is emotional numbness an actual thing, or am I making this up?
That matters more than most people admit.
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It’s absolutely a real thing and it’s actually a form of depression. Not the crying-all-day kind but the feeling-nothing kind. I went through it for about two years before I realized something was wrong.
Look up alexithymia — its literally the inability to identify or describe emotions. A lot of men deal with this and dont even know theres a word for it.
Bro you just described my entire 2024. What helped me was starting to exercise again (not for gains, just for the mood boost) and actually forcing myself to name what I was feeling throughout the day. sounds dumb but it works over time
You’re not being dramatic. When I told my therapist I didn’t feel anything she said that IS the problem. Numbness is your brain’s way of protecting you from feelings it doesn’t know how to process.
been there. for me it was burnout from work bleeding into everything else. once i addressed the work situation the feelings started coming back. not all good feelings mind you lol but at least i was feeling SOMETHING