Does this feel familiar?
Something good happened and you knew you should feel happy, but you didn’t really feel anything.
You’re in the room laughing with friends, and also somehow watching it all from behind glass.
You haven’t cried in a long time, even when it would have made sense.
Days blur together and you couldn’t say what you did last Tuesday.
What might be going on
When stress or pain has been too much for too long, your nervous system can protect you by shutting down feelings. It’s a bit like a circuit breaker. It helped you get through, but it can stay switched off after the danger has passed.
Numbness often follows burnout, grief, difficult relationships or trauma, and can come with low mood, poor concentration or feeling disconnected from your body.
Because numbness lives so much in the body, approaches that gently reconnect you with physical sensation can be especially helpful, alongside talking therapies.
One small thing. Just for today.
Hold something warm, like a mug of tea, and notice three things about how it feels in your hands.
Let’s untangle a few assumptions
Support can look different
A little perspective
Mind describes dissociation, feeling disconnected from yourself or the world, as a common way the mind copes with too much stress. Many people experience it at some point in their lives, often during or after a difficult time.
Questions you might be asking
When to get medical help
Speak to your GP if numbness lasts more than a couple of weeks, comes with low mood, or if you feel unreal or detached a lot of the time. If you have thoughts of harming yourself, call 999, NHS 111 option 2, or Samaritans free on 116 123.
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