What are the symptoms of emotional blunting?

Emotional blunting may be associated with the following symptoms:

  • inability to feel happiness and sadness.
  • restlessness.
  • loss of sex drive.
  • feeling disconnected from mind and/or body.
  • difficulty speaking.
  • lack of motivation.
  • difficulty socializing, maintaining and forming relationships.
  • fatigue.

Is emotionless a symptom of depression?

Sometimes depression can give us overwhelming feelings of sadness and despair. At other times, we feel nothing at all. Emotional numbness can be a symptom of depression. We feel numb to everything around us and everything inside of us.

What is blunted emotional expression?

Blunted affect is a decreased ability to express emotion through your facial expressions, tone of voice, and physical movements. Schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorders, and Parkinson’s disease are all associated with blunted affect.

What does blunted affect mean in mental health?

Blunted affect, also referred to as emotional blunting, is a prominent symptom of schizophrenia. Patients with blunted affect have difficulty in expressing their emotions [1], characterized by diminished facial expression, expressive gestures and vocal expressions in reaction to emotion provoking stimuli [1–3].

Do I have emotional blunting?

Emotional blunting means that your feelings and emotions are so dulled that you neither feel up nor down. You simply feel “blah.” People who experience emotional blunting will often report: Being less able to laugh or cry even when appropriate.

How common is emotional blunting?

Research suggests that 50% of people with a depression diagnosis who take selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) or serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) experience emotional blunting as a side effect.

What does blunted affect look like?

Someone with a blunted affect displays little feeling in emotional contexts. For example, a person recalling their father’s death might simply recount the factual details of the death. The person might not share much information about how they felt. They may show little facial expression or speak in a monotone voice.

What causes a blunted affect?

Blunted affect is commonly seen in those with post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. When an event causes a person to experience or witness physical harm or violence, they can go on to develop PTSD. This may cause them to have long-term anxiety and fear, which can be debilitating.

What is emotional detachment?

Emotional detachment is an inability or unwillingness to connect with other people on an emotional level. For some people, being emotionally detached helps protect them from unwanted drama, anxiety, or stress. For others, the detachment isn’t always voluntary.