‘Are you OK?’
If you were to answer this question seriously, what would be your answer? If you can quickly describe the emotions you are feeling at this moment, congratulations! But if you just feel empty or indescribable chaos inside, don’t be afraid! you are not alone.
If you want to connect with life and ‘alive’ again, we must first recognize and accept this state of ourselves - ’numbness’.
Forms of Numbness: Different Anesthetics
The Huffington Post article mentioned that the brain activity when we see a milkshake is like that of an addict when they see a reward (that is, cocaine). The brain’s suppression of impulses decreases, and we continue pouring sweet milkshakes into our mouths. This state is also common with other ’narcotics’ such as food, alcohol, drugs, and sex, which can temporarily take us away from pain, anxiety, and frustration. The short-term pleasure brought by ‘anesthesia’ makes us more eager to be anesthetized.
In addition to these more obvious ’narcotics’, there are some forms of numbness that may be less obvious. For example, it is often said to ’narcotize yourself with work.’ You may have noticed that one of your (bad) habits actually helps you escape from your feelings. You may not even realize that it has become a habit. It initially helps you escape the most painful feelings, and gradually extends to the inertia of dealing with psychological stress.
Accepting Numbness: Why is Numbness?
‘Is numbness bad?’ You may be thinking, after being under pressure for a long time, maybe this kind of psychological defense is human nature? Indeed, when we experience unbearable pain, numbness allows us to distance ourselves from the pain and allow us to endure. But numbness doesn’t happen out of nowhere, and what we can do is understand when it has protected us.
Being numb is not shameful, but it is uncomfortable. ‘Narcotics’ become addictive and become less and less effective. After this short-term pleasure dissipates, what is left is a long-term psychological withdrawal, which undoubtedly makes people feel depressed. You may even feel confused because you don’t know why you are the way you are, and then one day you decide to change yourself.
How to transform the state of numbness?
The opposite of numbness and detachment is engagement and connection, which means regularly listening to and taking care of your inner feelings and needs. Just as bad habits die hard, trying to achieve success in one go is simply unrealistic. Perhaps the first thing we can do is practice responding to our most basic physiological needs—sleep, diet, and exercise.
Then, we can further find some flow activities to arouse the feeling of involvement, and slowly allocate more time in our lives to carry out these activities.
Do you still remember the feeling of immersing yourself in something and connecting with the people and things around you? If feeling numb has been bothering you for a long time, you might as well try some psychological counseling services to untie some of the knots that are holding you back🔑.
Link to this article: https://m.psyctest.cn/article/6KdoKAd4/
If the original article is reprinted, please indicate the author and the source in the form of this link.
