I Want to Feel Numb Again

Download Article

Download Article

Life tin can make you experience some intense, turbulent emotions: sadness, anger, jealousy, despair, or emotional hurting. Information technology is not always possible (or fifty-fifty a good idea) to turn off these emotions, since they can help you work through your problems and better your life.^[ane] However, sometimes stiff emotions can make information technology difficult for you to office, and you have to numb yourself temporarily just to get through the mean solar day. To brand yourself emotionally numb under such circumstances, you'll need to piece of work at controlling your surroundings, paying close attention to your emotions, calming yourself physically, and dealing with anxiety as it pops up.

See When Should You Try This? to learn more about when numbing your emotions might be a adept course of activeness.

1. 1

   Recognize that numbing yourself comes at a cost. Studies show that repressing negative emotions can deplete your psychological resources, making it more hard for you to handle stress and make good decisions. This means that numbing yourself from emotional pain might hurt your resilience or even your ability to recollect events. Merely numb yourself if information technology is truly necessary for you to get through your daily life.

   • An constructive alternative to numbing yourself is to piece of work through your emotional pain past reframing information technology and focusing on more positive emotions. For case, you might want to numb yourself to an embarrassing incident that happened to you at piece of work. Notwithstanding, maybe yous tin try to see that the incident is non humiliating, but rather quite funny. This is normally known as cerebral reappraisal and, while non the same as emotional numbness, tin produce a similar desired effect.^[two]
   • Be aware that feelings of total or long-term numbness might be an indication of mental health disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)^[3] or clinical depression.^[4] If you feel constantly lost, numb, and hopeless, you should see your md or therapist equally presently as possible.

2. ii

   Avert people, settings, and events you dislike . The easiest way for yous to numb your emotional response is to control your surroundings. Brand certain that you are not triggering extreme emotional responses in the first place.^[5] If you know that certain people, places, and activities bring out the worst in you lot, try to stay away from them as much as possible.

   Advertisement

3. 3

   Have control over situations you dislike. Sometimes you have to be around people yous dislike or perform tasks you hate. If you cannot avert the things that crusade you emotional pain, find means to take control over them. Do non view yourself as a helpless victim: find as much agency equally you can in the situation. Simply reminding yourself that you always have a choice can help yous get through emotional times relatively unscathed.^[six] For example:

   • If you lot go stressed out studying for tests the night before the exam, attempt studying for the examination two nights before instead. Then you can relax the dark earlier the examination.
   • If you hate going to parties considering there are too many people, ask one or two close friends to attend it with you. Seek them out if you lot need to get away from the crowd and accept a more private conversation.

4. 4

   Distract yourself . When you feel your emotions getting in your way, stop what you are doing immediately and do something else instead. Endeavour to do an activeness that will crave you to focus all of your mental and emotional attention on it. By distracting yourself, you will be able to procedure your emotions later, when you are more likely to be calm and reasonable. But for now, don't worry about processing your emotional country: simply modify your mood by irresolute your activity. Some practiced activities include:

   • Playing a video game
   • Watching a movie
   • Engaging in your favorite hobby
   • Going to a concert or comedy evidence
   • Exercising
   • Counting downward from 100 in increments of 7
   • Focusing on finding a color, such as blue, in your environment
   • Noticing how your feet feel on the ground

5. 5

   Requite yourself technology breaks . Technology tin can lead to more than intense emotions: by remaining plugged in, you are exposing yourself to added piece of work stress, life stress, and feelings of helplessness. You can make yourself calmer and happier instantly past quitting social media sites.^[7] Accept control over your emotional life past limiting the amount of time you spend on the net.^[viii] In social club to limit your internet apply, you can:

   • Check email at work only--never at home
   • Plow your phone off in the evenings
   • Turn off social media notifications
   • Take down your social media profiles
   • Take a break from the internet during weekends

6. 6

   Act neutral, fifty-fifty if y'all practise not feel that fashion. According to the Facial Feedback Hypothesis, you can change your emotional state simply by irresolute your facial expression. In other words: past pretending to feel a certain way, you lot can really brainstorm feeling that style for real. If you want to exist emotionally numb, deed emotionally numb. This might be difficult during times of stress, simply with some practice it will soon go natural. Stay neutral by:

   • Maintaining a cool, deadpan expression
   • Keeping your lips neutral, in neither a smile nor a pout
   • Speaking in low tones at a low volume
   • Remaining terse by keeping your sentences cursory and to the betoken
   • Maintaining centre contact with a at-home, blank stare

   Advertizement

1. 1

   Tell yourself that negative emotions are all in your brain. Tell yourself that negative emotions are non objective facts: you are never forced to feel emotional pain. Recollect that emotional hurting comes from your own mind.^[9] This ways that you can rising in a higher place many negative emotions such as fear, feet, and anger. When a negative emotion threatens to emerge, merely dismiss it with the mantra: "This is simply in my mind." This is an essential component of mindfulness.

2. 2

   Rehearse situations that might cause you emotional pain in the future. In addition to armoring yourself against emotional pain you feel in the present, you can also use mindfulness techniques to prepare yourself for future emotional pain. Think about events in the virtually future that might cause you distress, such as a stressful test, a potential fight with your girlfriend, or a difficult task at piece of work. Imagine a calm, unemotional response to each of these future events, and exercise overcoming these negative emotions. Soon you volition inure yourself to these strong emotions, and you volition exist better equipped to handle yourself calmly.^[ten]

3. 3

   Pay attending to your emotional state. Every day, perform a few periodic "mental check-ins" to determine your emotional well-beingness at that specific time. Fifty-fifty when yous are not sad or upset, existence mindful of what yous are feeling and why will help you understand your instinctive emotional responses to everyday life.^[11] Eventually, your mindfulness volition permit you to control your emotional responses more finer. When y'all perform your "mental cheque-in," ask yourself the following questions:

   • What am I feeling in this moment? Am I feeling a single, overwhelming emotion, or a combination of emotions? Merely giving your emotions a characterization can aid you view them more objectively.^[12]
   • Why am I feeling this way? Are my emotions due to internal factors (such as my own fears) or external factors (such as when somebody yells at me)?
   • Practice I similar the way I am feeling now? Perhaps y'all are feeling blithesome or grateful about life and desire to foster these emotions. But perhaps you are feeling anxious or nervous and do non want to experience these emotions in the future.
   • What can I do to control my feelings in the future? Ask yourself if y'all tin encourage your positive emotions while discouraging or even dismissing your negative ones. How can you structure your life so that you are the one controlling your emotions--not letting your emotions control you?

4. iv

   Don't beat yourself upwards for showing emotions. Sometimes your emotional armor might fissure, and you might notice yourself expressing emotions you hoped not to express. Maybe you cried at work or couldn't hibernate your distress at school. Tell yourself that this happens to everybody, and attempt to larn from the experience.^[13] Some ways to aid you forgive yourself include:

   • Focus on your hereafter, not the present. Ask yourself whether your current failure has taught you any lessons about how you will react in the time to come. Pat yourself on the back for learning from a difficult state of affairs.^[14]
   • Tell yourself that resilience but comes from failures. You cannot be emotionally potent right abroad: yous will have to practise it slowly, over fourth dimension. Look at this as one step on your journey to decision-making your emotions.^[15]
   • Proceed things in perspective. Recall that the person who cares the most about your emotional country is you. Your colleagues, fellow students, friends, and family members will shortly forget if you had a minor flare-up. Retrieve that this is not the end of the world: it is a small blip in your life.^[xvi]

5. 5

   Have time before reacting. If something happens to upset you, try to remain calm and blank for a few minutes. Breathe deeply and count to x. Once you've gotten by the immediate emotional response, you will exist able to respond to the situation calmly and rationally instead of with pure emotion.^[17]

6. 6

   Keep a diary. One great fashion to go along your emotions from taking over your life is to permit them spill out . . . on newspaper. Expel your emotions by writing them down in a journal. This will permit you to forget nearly your emotional land and motion on with your life.^[xviii] Studies show that people who write about their mood changes in journals experience similar they have greater command over their emotional states.^[xix] Commit to writing in your journal at predetermined points during the twenty-four hours or during those times when you recollect you lot might be getting emotional.

   • Pay item attending to whether you retrieve your emotional reaction is i that a mentally healthy person would share or whether your reaction is exaggerated somehow.^[xx]
   • Exist sure to ask yourself whether you have felt this way in the past. This will assistance you notice a pattern in your emotional state.
   • If something upsetting happens to you lot, tell yourself that you volition simply write about it later in your diary. This will help prevent you from reacting emotionally in the moment.

   Advert

1. 1

   Have deep breaths. Deep breathing exercises will assistance you maintain your at-home demeanor. They are also a great coping mechanism when you experience your emotions rise to the surface.^[21] Breathe in through your nose for five seconds, hold for v seconds, then release through your mouth for five seconds. Echo as necessary until yous have regained your composure.^[22]

   • You can also inhale for iv seconds, hold for four seconds, breathe for four seconds, and concord for another 4 seconds.^[23]
   • You might also calm down by visualizing a safe place, like a hammock on a warm, sunny island, or thinking about a pet at home.^[24]

2. 2

   Practice vigorous aerobic activity for 30 minutes. Exercise tin aid distract you from painful emotions and will also permit you to be a calmer, more rational person. Observe your favorite sport, practice, or physical action. Whenever you experience emotions begin to bubble up, put on your gym shoes and get your heart pumping. Soon you will forget nigh your emotional response.^{[25] [26]} Some splendid concrete outlets include:

   • Running or jogging
   • Bicycling
   • Swimming
   • Team sports such as softball or soccer
   • Martial arts
   • Kickboxing
   • Dancing

3. 3

   Avoid substance apply. It might be tempting to use substances in order to dull your emotions. However, many drugs and booze likewise piece of work to lower your inhibitions, leading you lot to have emotional reactions of fifty-fifty greater intensity. Even caffeine can trigger a stress reaction.^[27] Keep yourself calm and emotionally neutral by abstaining from drugs, alcohol, and caffeine.

   • An important exception to this is if you require psychiatric medication for a mental health disorder. If this is the case, follow your doctor'south instructions at all times.

4. 4

   Become a practiced night's residuum. Sleeplessness tin brand it hard to handle your emotions neutrally and calmly.^[28] Exist certain that you slumber at least 8 hours each dark. If yous have a hard time sleeping, be sure that you:

   • Avoid bluish calorie-free, which is emitted by electronics, for at least 3 hours earlier bed^[29]
   • Go on your bedchamber cool and well-ventilated
   • Have a comfy mattress
   • Utilize a white noise machine to drown out ambience dissonance
   • Avoid caffeine, booze, and heavy meals, specially in the evenings

   Advert

1. i

   Maintain a social network. Sometimes feelings of anxiety or depression might make yous desire to isolate yourself. Withal, your social ties are one of the keys to maintaining a good for you emotional balance.^[30] Talk to your friend and family members when y'all begin to experience overwhelmed, and let them help you lot process your emotions. While it isn't making yourself emotionally numb per se, you will exist able to recover more quickly.

   • The quality of your friendships matters more than the quantity.^[31]

2. ii

   Take positive action. Sometimes y'all might become anxious when there is a situation that you cannot control. Rather than stewing about it, y'all should try to have decisive action in order to better the state of affairs. Resist the urge to disassemble: that will simply make you feel more stressed out for longer.^[32]

   • For example, if you are stressed out near an upcoming test, don't attempt to forget near information technology. Instead, tell yourself that you lot will study for 20 minutes a day: that will assist y'all overcome your anxiety.

3. 3

   Tell yourself that stress is only temporary. It is important to remember that most stressful events will be over soon: they do not last forever. Whether information technology is a party you don't want to attend, an exam you don't want to take, or a piece of work projection yous despise, tell yourself that the stressful situation will pass. Practice not feel like your whole life is wrapped upward in 1 moment of stress.^{[33] [34]}

   • Things like psychotherapy, meditation, regular do, and regular time in the sun may help you manage your stress better.^[35]

4. 4

   Take a break. Sometimes y'all are meliorate equipped to deal with stress afterward you lot take allowed yourself a brief time to recover. If you are beginning to feel completely overwhelmed, spend just twenty-xxx minutes taking a walk, talking to a friend, or listening to your favorite album. Return to the stressful situation one time you feel calmer and ready to face up it head-on.^[36]

   • Just changing your environs for equally little as 30 minutes can be helpful. For example, you could get outside.
   • You will be especially relaxed if you engage in an activity that involves being social (such every bit getting a java with friends) or being exterior (such every bit walking around a lake). These tin exist more effective than television at getting you calmed down and rejuvenated.^[37]

   Advertisement

1. 1

   Try muting your emotions when you're facing a challenge. Heightened emotions can sometimes become in the fashion when you're trying to deal with a loftier-stress situation. For example, if you've got to give a big oral communication or presentation, fear might deject your ability to think clearly and execute your delivery. Knowing how to mute that sense of fear can come in handy when you take to overcome challenges at work and schoolhouse.

2. 2

   Put your emotions temporarily bated when you have a conclusion to brand. Emotions take a role to play in decision-making, only sometimes it's important to set them aside and assess other factors. For example, maybe you lot feel devastated after a breakup and are tempted to move to a new city so you don't have to see your ex. If you're able to encounter beyond the sadness and counterbalance other factors, you might exist less probable to drop everything and leave.

3. iii

   Numb your emotions when yous're in a state of affairs you can't control. Numbing your emotions can exist a useful defense force mechanism. Maybe there's a bully at school, or yous have a sibling with whom you don't go forth. If y'all're in a situation that'south tough to alter, you can protect yourself by temporarily shutting off your feelings to help yous become through the day.

4. 4

   Avert cutting yourself off from your emotions too oft. We experience emotions for a reason. They are essential to navigating the earth and, ultimately, surviving with our mental health intact. If you routinely numb your emotions, you're cutting yourself off from experiences that your heed needs to experience. Fear, sadness, despair, and other emotions that don't feel good to experience are nevertheless just as important every bit joy and excitement. If you don't allow yourself experience pitiful, it'll be harder and harder to experience happy. Rather than numbing your emotions, learn to arrive touch with them and utilize them to your advantage.

   • Becoming emotionless, or out-of-touch on with your emotions, can crusade you to brand bad decisions.^[38]

   Advertizing

Add New Question

• Question

  How can I exist more emotionally intelligent?

  

  Dr. Adam Dorsay is a licensed psychologist in private practice in San Jose, CA, and the co-creator of Project Reciprocity, an international program at Facebook's Headquarters, and a consultant with Digital Sea's Safety Team. He specializes in assisting high-achieving adults with relationship issues, stress reduction, anxiety, and attaining more happiness in their lives. In 2016 he gave a well-watched TEDx talk well-nigh men and emotions. Dr. Dorsay has a One thousand.A. in Counseling from Santa Clara University and received his doctorate in Clinical Psychology in 2008.

  

  Licensed Psychologist & TEDx Speaker

  Expert Answer

  Endeavor to view your emotions as a second language. Learn more nearly your emotions, recognize that you might be a little clumsy with them at offset, and be patient with yourself. Instead of saying "I don't want to be emotional," set a goal like "I desire to be more in control of my emotions" or "I want to larn from my emotions."

• Question

  I just want to cease feeling everything. It's also overwhelming. When I push button everything within, it only explodes later, and I may take harmed myself because of this. What is wrong with me?

  

  Paul Chernyak is a Licensed Professional person Advisor in Chicago. He graduated from the American School of Professional Psychology in 2011.

  

  Licensed Professional Counselor

  Expert Answer

  Being on both ends of the emotional spectrum isn't salubrious. It would be best for y'all to see a mental health professional, who can aid you lot decide the causes of your emotional turmoil. Y'all may take a possible trauma that has not been dealt with. It's as well a good idea to get a concrete test to eliminate whatsoever physical causes for your overwhelming feelings.

• Question

  Is it the best choice to be emotionally numb when you're always facing emotional blackmail?

  

  Paul Chernyak is a Licensed Professional Advisor in Chicago. He graduated from the American School of Professional Psychology in 2011.

  

  Licensed Professional Counselor

  Skilful Respond

  You lot should only numb your emotions temporarily and for a short period of fourth dimension. Eventually, you volition need to bargain with the underlying issues that are causing your unpleasant emotions.

Ask a Question

200 characters left

Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.

Submit

Advertisement

• Sometimes your social network can help you process emotions calmly. At other times, being around people might enhance your emotional state. Do what you call up is best for you, and accept intendance of yourself at all times.

• Fugitive your feelings can sometimes lead to farther emotional distress. Discover healthy ways to process your emotions--if not now, then at a after time.

• Try to aim for calmness and neutrality over full numbness. Find ways to react calmly in difficult situations without completely shutting down your emotions.

Advertizing

• Emotional numbness can sometimes be a sign of a more serious mental disorder. If you lot take lost the ability to experience happiness, surprise, or pleasure, talk to a doctor about treatment options.^[39]

Advertisement

Almost This Article

Commodity Summary X

To make yourself emotionally numb to help you get through extremely trying times, avoid people, places, or things that may trigger y'all to experience worse. In add-on to avoiding triggers, distract yourself with an activity that requires your focus, like playing a video game, going to a concert, exercising, or counting down from 100 in increments of seven. If you even so feel yourself getting upset or worked up, take deep breaths to get calm. Another method to help you numb your emotions is to become a good dark'south slumber. Sleeplessness can make you lot feel more than emotional, so be certain to get at to the lowest degree 8 hours of rest each night to assist keep your emotions in check. To learn how to human activity neutral to feel more emotionally numb, continue reading!

Did this summary help y'all?

Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 1,336,938 times.

Did this article help yous?

bensonexced1967.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.wikihow.com/Make-Yourself-Emotionally-Numb

Share this post