Being punished whether directly or indirectly for expressing our emotions in childhood also creates emotional numbness.
Feeling alienated or disconnected from one or both of our parents, or family at large, can also contribute towards emotional numbness. Being abused by our parents physically, emotionally, sexually, psychologically, or spiritually can contribute towards our inability to self- regulate emotions, which results in emotional numbness. What Causes Emotional Numbness?Īs with most issues, emotional numbness goes back to childhood and the way we were raised by our parents. In this sense, emotional numbness is often clinically connected with dissociation, which is the disconnection from one’s memories, identity, environment, body, or senses. When you go emotionally numb, you lose the ability to feel and experience your emotions on a psychological and emotional level.
13 Signs You’re Struggling With Emotional NumbnessĮmotional numbness is a defense mechanism employed by the mind to avoid intense and overwhelming emotions such as fear, hatred, jealousy, and grief.