Table of Contents
What causes lack of emotional expression?
If you’re experiencing emotional blunting, your ability to actually feel emotions is diminished, often by depression, PTSD, certain kinds of dementia, traumatic brain injury, bipolar disorder, or one of the medications you’re taking. A 2021 study conducted in Italy during the first wave of lockdowns showed that when we regulate or ignore our emotions, we can experience short-term mental and physical reactions as well. “Suppressing your emotions, whether it’s anger, sadness, grief or frustration, can lead to physical stress on your body. Part of this pathway includes your cerebellum, which plays a key role in monitoring emotional responses and ensuring they’re appropriate to the social situation. Disruption of the neural (nerve) pathways from certain areas of your brain to your cerebellum may lead to a loss or lack of control over emotional expression. Emotional processing is the ability of people to process stress and other extreme events and move past them. When people are unable to process those emotions, they develop phobias and other mental issues. Emotional processing allows specific and intense feelings to dissipate over time. Feeling emotionless can often be a symptom of mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety and post-traumatic disorder so it’s not something to dismiss or downplay. In these cases, seeking the help of a professional is crucial. So remember you don’t have to work through this alone.
What is lack of emotion a symptom of?
When you lose the ability to feel or express any emotions, this is called flat affect. If you feel numb only to positive emotions but are still able to feel negative emotions, this is called anhedonia. Anhedonia is a common symptom of depression and shows up in a lot of mental health conditions. Not everyone responds to emotional stimuli in the same way, but, in some, there may be no response at all. This lack of reaction is called flat affect and can be a symptom of a psychiatric disorder or a side effect of another medical condition. Being unable to control emotions can be temporary. It could be caused by something like a drop in blood sugar or exhaustion from lack of sleep. However, some people experience a constant inability to control their emotions because of a chronic condition. A flat affect can be a negative symptom of schizophrenia, meaning that your emotional expressions don’t show outwardly. You may speak in a dull, flat voice and your face may not change. You also may have trouble understanding emotions in other people. A delayed emotional response is part of the “freeze” response of the nervous system. A full-on “freeze” response is when you go numb and play dead until the danger has passed. It is an extreme form of dissociation that is biologically hardwired in your system for the sake of survival. There are many reasons a person might experience emotional blunting. This can include psychiatric prescriptions, substance use, and having certain mental health disorders. Find encouragement and support through 1-1 messaging and advice from others dealing with major depressive disorder.