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Can't feel emotions anymore

L

LetMeHideHere

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I can't really feel emotions anymore. If I do feel them, it's for a split second & is a watered down version of what I used to feel. By habit, I know how I'm supposed to react to situations. I laugh when something is funny & I gasp when something's surprising. It's like I'm on auto pilot. I'm not on any drugs & there hasn't been any change in my diet or environment. I live an exciting life & it's not a matter of a lack of appreciation. I recognize & appreciate every positive thing that happens. I just can't feel that excitement.

Likewise, when something negative occurs, it doesn't really bother me. I played it off as being laid back, but I'm starting to think it's much more than that. I've been doing a bit of research and many of the results point towards depression. However, I don't feel depressed. I've gone through that hopeless stage in my life & this is nothing like it. I miss the contrast emotions can bring to life & I just want to be able to feel them again. Any sort of advice as to how I can fix this would be greatly appreciated.
 

pdudgeon

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it could be the difference between being an observer of what is happening, and being involved in what is happening around you.

this is not necessarily bad IF you use the time of observation and talk to God about what you are seeing, rather than comming to your own conclusions about what you observe and what is happening.

Getting His input on this is vital, so that you can begin to see things and people thru His eyes, as He sees.

It will change your heart towards those you see. :thumbsup:
 
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losthope

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No real emotions? I recognise the symptoms. I have always been like that.

There are various possible causes. In my case it is not depression, but faulty hormones. If you lack hormones such as ACTH or epinephrine you will not get the physiological feelings that would normally accompany emotion.
 
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slydog

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I think I know what you mean. I recently went through a period where I completely rejected what I felt God wanted me to do, then I was scared and knew I needed to come back. At times the devil tried to convince me that I wasn't/ am not saved, but believer after believer has encouraged me to trust that He has saved me and wants the best for me. Maybe this is God's way of scaring me into doing something I otherwise wouldn't do. I feel like I see things clearer now. The sin that once had such power over me no longer does. I believe it has come with the wisdom and knowledge He has given me. I believe the reason I don't feel such strong emotions about things is because He has shown me to trust Him no matter the situation and which situations it's silly to become emotional. I don't know if this helps, but I feel like I should share this with whoever else out there feels this way. Never give up, keep trusting, praying, and looking to other strong Christians for encouragement. I still don't understand completely, but this is where the faith comes into play. God bless
 
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L

LoveJesusAndGrow

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There are several possibilities, I think. It may be that you are suppressing feelings for self-protection; it may be that you are going through a "cocoon" stage, in preparation for some new development or growth in you life; or you might be grieving some loss that you've experienced.

If it is the first or the less of these, I'd be wondering what you might be angry about. We Christians often have difficulty knowing what to do with anger, and thus it can easily cause us problems. We have the idea, with good scriptural basis, that anger is something problematic, yet we also have plenty of scriptural examples of constructive anger, including Jesus expressing his anger to the buyers and sellers in the temple, not to mention various names that he called the scribes and pharisees. Anger is a natural emotion created by God for a purpose. One aspect of that purpose is to enable us to draw boundaries, to respect ourselves, to ask that others respect us. An aspect of the purpose of anger is to help us to deal with loss. Anger is a part of the grieving process.

The grieving process goes something like this: we lose something or someone important to us; we initially feel disbelief or maybe numbness, then we find ourselves flipping between different emotional states, the most common being anger and sadness; these emotional states tend to come in waves; at the same time, we usually find lots of "what if" questions running around in our heads. These may be "what if I'd done..." or "what if I do..." or any other kind of "what if". The waves of thoughts and painful emotions gradually decrease in intensity over time, and eventually we come in some way to an acceptance that the new reality is real, and become able to go on.

What you are describing sounds rather numb, so it could be the early part of a grieving process. Have you lost anything or anyone lately?
 
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