I feel numb

Feeling numb, or anhedonia—the loss or reduced ability to feel pleasure—is a common experience for many people who live with depression and other mental health conditions. For some people, numbness can develop after years of pushing through difficult experiences without enough support.

While feeling numb may be your current experience, it’s possible to try to overcome it. People find that support, lifestyle changes, and/or treatment, including medications and therapy, can help reduce the feelings of numbness.

Feeling unmotivated

When you find it difficult to enjoy the benefits of doing hobbies, activities, or chores, then you can begin to feel unmotivated. For example, if reading books once made you happy and now it doesn’t, then you might give up on reading because it feels like unnecessary work. You may even start to wonder: What’s the point? And let go of things because they no longer feel important to you.

One way to motivate yourself when you feel numb is to do the things you used to enjoy anyway. This is called behavioral activation, a therapy intervention that helps increase motivation. Your hobbies, activities, etc. were things that you once enjoyed, and it’s possible for you to enjoy them again.

Try not to be discouraged if this doesn’t work the first time. It may take time for you to remember why you enjoyed the things you liked or for those feelings to return. It might be helpful to track how long you felt numb and how long you felt motivated, so you can remember that it does end and your feelings do come back.

If your thoughts are making you feel especially unmotivated, you can also try to reframe your thoughts. This interactive tool can help address and reframe negative thoughts, such as “I don’t enjoy anything anymore.”

Feeling isolated from others

One of the most difficult parts of feeling numb is how it affects your relationships with others.

For example, you might

• Feel like you don’t have the energy for friendships and new connections
• Lack the motivation to go to social events and see friends and loved ones
• Fake your interactions with others because you just don’t feel anything anymore
• Or, feel cut off from your emotions because you’ve had to put parts of yourself on hold to get through certain situations

These experiences isolate you from friends, family, loved ones, and others. This may also leave you feeling exhausted and disconnected from yourself, because you are pretending to have feelings you aren’t experiencing.

Telling the people who support and care about you about what you’re experiencing can help. It’s good to be honest about how things just don’t feel the same, and that is why you haven’t been around. This helps them understand why you’ve withdrawn and might motivate you to reengage. Joining a support group and talking about these experiences with others who understand will also help you feel less alone.

Feeling numb makes it difficult to enjoy life to its fullest. But with time and support, this feeling is possible to overcome.

Feeling numb is a common experience among people experiencing mental health conditions like depression, PTSD, or psychosis. If feeling numb is starting to have an impact on your quality of life, consider taking a mental health test. This can help you find out if you may be struggling with one of these conditions.
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