How to Get in Touch with Your Emotions When You Feel Numb
Do you ever get a feeling of “numbness?” Does it feel like you can’t fully get in touch with your emotions, or feel anything at all?
It can be a scary sensation since our emotions drive so much of who we are and what we do. In fact, when you listen to your emotions, you can start to use them as a navigation system to make more informed choices in your life.
So, what happens when you feel numb? It can start to feel like your emotions just disappeared, which makes the ability to navigate life harder.
Thankfully, it’s not impossible to get in touch with your emotions again. When you do, you can start to feel more alive and more like yourself.
Symptoms of Emotional Numbness
Emotional numbness occurs when you can’t feel anything or when you struggle to connect to your feelings. You don’t feel happy, angry, sad, etc. You might even think nothing in your life affects you one way or another.
There are many potential causes of this kind of numbing sensation. Basic distractions such as media, tv, and social media can all lead to this. Others might actually use outside influencers such as substances or porn. But these are often just the behaviors that lead are in response to numbing or can help you numb. What actually causes numbing tends to be a struggle with naming and connecting to basic emotions, feelings of being incongruent with yourself, and constant stress and stimulation. It can also be more serious things such as trauma that can lead to numbing.
Some of the most common symptoms of emotional numbness include:
- Nothing bothers you.
- Fatigue or decline in energy levels
- Lack of sensitivity to others’ emotions
- Difficulty naming emotions.
- Feeling like you’re in a fog.
Numbing Can be Mild to Serious.
Some of us will numb for brief periods of time to escape a little bit of intensity or stress. However, others rely on numbing and even live in this state. In a way, it’s a sort of dissociation (I know, dissociation gets a bad wrap). Rather than viewing numbing as an overall bad thing, it can be a cue to turn to your emotional self and learn more about what is going on. You may need the help of a therapist if you’re struggling to identify your emotions.
The Importance of Getting in Touch With Your Emotions
If you’ve been numb to your emotions for a while, you could be ignoring a larger problem. Your mind and body might be feeling so numb because you’re actually in a lot of emotional pain. Our whole body has the potential to do this. If you think about sustaining an injury, it’s common to experience numbness or disconnection from that part of the body. We can respond to emotional pain in a similar way.
Getting in touch with your emotions after a period of feeling numb can be overwhelming. It may even cause a bit of anxiety, depending on how long you’ve ignored those feelings.
Yet, there are some things you can do to make the process easier.
How to Get in Touch With Your Emotions Again
Struggling with emotional numbness can make it hard to feel motivated to do anything. But, getting in touch with those emotions once more can make a big difference in how you feel and how you live your life.
First, ask yourself if you’ve ever felt comfortable with naming emotions. If not, it’s not a bad idea to start basic and identify when you’ve experienced these different feelings.
Put some of these strategies into practice. It’s okay if you feel a little anxious about them at first. Remind yourself that getting back into your own emotions can take time, and it’s normal to feel a little overwhelmed.
It’s also critical to be patient with yourself. No one goes from a deep state of numbness to a mindful awareness overnight. It takes mindful practices to make these changes.
Do your best to continue moving forward with these ideas:
- Learn about feeling experiences in your body. Identify how your breathing and heart rate change with different feelings. Learn about whether you experience tightness and what helps you feel more open.
- Focus on what is tolerable.Some emotions may just feel intolerable. That’s OK. Focus on what feels more tolerable to you. It is important to step into the more difficult feelings over time as well. But it’s recommended to do this with a professional.
- Give yourself a safe space. As you start to become in tune with your emotions once again, it can be scary and overwhelming. Make sure you have a place in your home where you can go if you start to feel fearful or anxious. Having this safe space will encourage you to keep going, knowing that you can feel secure if things start to unravel.
- Keep a support system around you through the process. They can help you to become more in touch with your emotions. But, they can also make sure you don’t go back into that state of “numbness,” no matter how tempting it might be.
- Resolve what is unresolved.If your numbness comes from painful or difficult situations, you may want to work with a professional to identify when the numbness began and work on aspects of your life that are unresolved from that time.
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If you’re tired of feeling numb to your own emotions, feel free to contact us . I’m here to help and can connect you with your emotions again in a safe and effective way.
