Inability to Feel

[Oasiss]

Hello, for about three years now, I've been unable to feel any type of emotion. I don't feel happiness, anger, or sadness. Even if I were to lose someone close to me, I don't think I would care. I can blend into society and act normal, but I just don't think I should accept not being able to love or hurt. I've been doing some research and haven't been able to find a name for this or a way to cure it. By the way, i am young. I'm only 15. So if anyone can help me plz do.

[jul-els]

The world today can be very overwhelming for young people. I know it was for me when I was your age and that was quite a while ago. Things have gotten even more complicated since then. I feel sorry for a lot of the kids having to deal with all of the left over crap that society has handed to them. Some can just accept it without a problem but for others it's not so easy and it's not hard to see why.

 

It's easy to think there's no hope in a world so full of materialistic narcissism. I can tell you though that all hope is not lost. If you stay strong and stay true to yourself and always keep love in your heart then over time the lessons of life will give you a strength and wisdom much greater than you ever would have expected.

 

It all comes down to you. Can you stay positive? Can you be tough? Can you keep love in your heart despite all of the ugliness you see? It can be done. It's a choice. In time you will grow to see what a great and beautiful person you really are. If you need help, find a friend or family member or therapist or doctor or someone in your community that you can confide in. There are good people who can give you some guidance and a helping hand. You need to seek them out. You can do it.

 

Always believe in yourself no matter what. There's a saying that's actually kind of a cliche but it does have a grain of truth and it says: Tough times don't last but tough people do! Remember that and you can't fail!

[giggidy]

you may be depressed. depression means a flat affect, not necessarily a low mood. having little to no emotion is a chemical thing, could be a response to stress, but seritonin plays a part. could also have to do with dopamine and nor-epinephrine. do things that will encourage the production of this, such as diet, rest, exercise, and social interaction.

 

you're describing a recent phenomenon, you have a flat affect, if you have an abnormal sleep cycle, bets are you may be suffering from depression.

 

 

and by the way, you're describing apathy, which is a symptom of depression.

[Will D Ness]

... I've been doing some research and haven't been able to find a name for this or a way to cure it. By the way, i am young. I'm only 15. ...

 

I have a name for it: adolescence. And that simplistic answer alone probably made you mad, so, see, you can feel something! But hear me out because I really do care. At some point in everyone's life, they make the transition between between a child and a grown up. The body does it and so does the mind, the spirit, and the emotions. For some, the change can occur overnight. For most others, the child switches off and fails to alert the adult until months later, leaving the "person" devoid of both the immature, irresponsible "devil may care" attitude of youth and the take charge, responsible, caring adult.

 

I'll bet you're in the transition period and I'm quite sure that one day very soon, you'll see the adult begin to peek around the corner. Give it some time and don't worry. Take in the world and have fun. You'll be fine. My money's on you.

 

All the best.

[ellandroader]

This is a great answer. And very true.

 

Stick to your guns and keep trying. At your age, these feelings are pretty common.

[skarlet]

Some of my brothers have had that problems, not feeling anything, and in their case, it wasn't just a phase or anything, it was deeper than that.

 

Usually, with people who can't feel, I've found that it's because, at some point, that was what they wished for deep down. There's a lot of betrayal, confusion, pain, no closeness with people, they are trapped in an abusive situation, etc. They just want to turn the pain off, and somehow, they manage to do that. But they've turned off ALL their emotions and, sometimes, desires.

 

The only solution I've yet seen, is for those people to go back and think about the pain that they were trying to avoid feeling, and feel that pain again. Then come to grips with that pain, and heal, and start feeling positive stuff again.

 

Might this be the answer for you?

[Rationality]

Some of my brothers have had that problems, not feeling anything, and in their case, it wasn't just a phase or anything, it was deeper than that.

 

Usually, with people who can't feel, I've found that it's because, at some point, that was what they wished for deep down. There's a lot of betrayal, confusion, pain, no closeness with people, they are trapped in an abusive situation, etc. They just want to turn the pain off, and somehow, they manage to do that. But they've turned off ALL their emotions and, sometimes, desires.

 

The only solution I've yet seen, is for those people to go back and think about the pain that they were trying to avoid feeling, and feel that pain again. Then come to grips with that pain, and heal, and start feeling positive stuff again.

 

Might this be the answer for you?

 

Hey, I would like to thank you for posting this. I had a manic breakdown in February this year and was hospitalized twice. I thought I had a seizure because the night before I was hospitalized I had this dark vision come to the forefront of my consciousness and could not explain or remember what happened after. The next day I was in a complete chaotic frenzy, thought crazy things, thought the universe split and etc. After I took a few anti psychotic meds for about a month and a half, I stopped taking them. My brain felt like mush, like i was going into supreme vertigo(like my head was dunked under water) and I would catch myself staring at something and thinking of nothing, just totally blank. I then realized my senses went to crap, I lost the ability to feel, smell, and taste. I even forgot how to cry. My senses slowly came back after a few months but the apathy remained. All I have is hope and a stellar boyfriend who's been with me through this whole mess.

 

I have been researching on what this is and how to cope with it, and this comment is by far the best I have found. I have a tremendously bad past - from being sexually, physically, and verbally tortured from the age of five to sixteen. And I always wanted to turn the pain off. I couldn't bear it, even through my adolescence and adulthood pain from stress was led by those thoughts from my childhood that'd I'd be worthless always ran through my mind. Somehow I did just that I shut off my ability to feel. And yea it's pretty cool when you can't feel any pain, but on the flip side not feeling any love. Damn, it sucks. For a while now I thought I was soul less. I remember watching the sunset with my boyfriend about a month ago, and remembering how I used to feel and react to it, I had to turn away because something so beautiful meant nothing to me. All I can say is thank you, somehow this makes sense to me and I'm not the kind of girl who wants to live like this anymore. I'm going to do whatever it takes to get through this and feel better. Best of luck to all of you.