emotional detachment

Emotional detachment may not be as outwardly obvious as other psychiatric symptoms. Patients diagnosed with emotional detachment have reduced ability to express emotion, to empathize with others or to form powerful emotional connections.{{cite web |last1=Dresden |first1=Danielle |title=Emotional detachment: Symptoms, causes, and treatment |url=https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/emotional-detachment |website=www.medicalnewstoday.com |access-date=8 January 2024 |language=en |date=27 May 2020}} Patients are also at an increased risk for many anxiety and stress disorders. This can lead to difficulties in creating and maintaining personal relationships. The person may move elsewhere in their mind and appear preoccupied or "not entirely present", or they may seem fully present but exhibit purely intellectual behavior when emotional behavior would be appropriate. They may have a hard time being a loving family member, or they may avoid activities, places, and people associated with past traumas. Their dissociation can lead to lack of attention and, hence, to memory problems and in extreme cases, amnesia. In some cases, they present an extreme difficulty in giving or receiving empathy which can be related to the spectrum of narcissistic personality disorder.{{Citation|last=Johnson|first=Stephen M|title=Humanizing the Narcissistic Style|year=1987|page=[https://archive.org/details/humanizingnarcis00john/page/125 125]|place=NY|publisher=Norton and Co.|isbn=0-393-70037-2|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/humanizingnarcis00john/page/125}} Additionally, emotional blunting is negatively correlated with remission quality. The negative symptoms are far less likely to disappear when a patient is experiencing emotional blunting.{{cite journal | last1=Goodwin | first1=G.M. | last2=Price | first2=J. | last3=De Bodinat | first3=C. | last4=Laredo | first4=J. | title=Emotional blunting with antidepressant treatments: A survey among depressed patients | journal=Journal of Affective Disorders | publisher=Elsevier BV | volume=221 | year=2017 | issn=0165-0327 | doi=10.1016/j.jad.2017.05.048 | pages=31–35 | pmid=28628765 | s2cid=3755520 |url=https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:8a7067a3-7b21-481f-ac80-32f1929d3ff7/download_file?safe_filename=Emotional+blunting+survey+AAM.pdf&file_format=application/pdf&type_of_work=Journal+article |access-date=2021-11-20}}

In a study of children ages 4–12, traits of aggression and antisocial behaviors were found to be correlated with emotional detachment. Researchers determined that these could be early signs of emotional detachment, suggesting parents and clinicians to evaluate children with these traits for a higher behavioral problem in order to avoid bigger problems (such as emotional detachment) in the future.{{Cite journal|last1=Manti|first1=Eirini|last2=Scholte|first2=Evert M.|last3=Van Berckelaer-Onnes|first3=Ina A.|last4=Van Der Ploeg|first4=Jan D.|date=2009|title=Social and emotional detachment: A cross-cultural comparison of the non-disruptive behavioural psychopathic traits in children|url=http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/cbm.732|journal=Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health|language=en|volume=19|issue=3|pages=178–192|doi=10.1002/cbm.732|pmid=19475645|url-access=subscription}}

A correlation was found of higher emotional blunting among patients treated with depression who scored higher on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and were male (though the frequency difference was slight).

Emotional detachment in small amounts is normal. For example, being able to emotionally and psychologically detach from work when one is not in the workplace is a normal behavior. Emotional detachment becomes an issue when it impairs a person's ability to function on a day-to-day level.{{Cite journal |last1=Haun |first1=Verena C. |last2=Nübold |first2=Annika |last3=Bauer |first3=Anna G. |date=2018-01-07 |title=Being mindful at work and at home: Buffering effects in the stressor-detachment model |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/joop.12200 |journal=Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology |volume=91 |issue=2 |pages=385–410 |doi=10.1111/joop.12200 |s2cid=149204708 |issn=0963-1798}}

While some depression severity scales provide insight to emotional blunting levels, many symptoms are not adequately covered.{{Cite journal|last1=Christensen|first1=Michael Cronquist|last2=Fagiolini|first2=Andrea|last3=Florea|first3=Ioana|last4=Loft|first4=Henrik|last5=Cuomo|first5=Alessandro|last6=Goodwin|first6=Guy M.|date=November 2021|title=Validation of the Oxford Depression Questionnaire: Sensitivity to change, minimal clinically important difference, and response threshold for the assessment of emotional blunting|journal=Journal of Affective Disorders|language=en|volume=294|pages=924–931|doi=10.1016/j.jad.2021.07.099 |pmid=34378539 | issn=0165-0327 |doi-access=free|hdl=11365/1175329|hdl-access=free}} An attempt to resolve this issue is the Oxford Depression Questionnaire (ODQ), a scale specifically designed for full assessment of emotional blunting symptoms. The ODQ is designed specifically for patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) in order to assess individual levels of emotional blunting.

Another scale, known as the Oxford Questionnaire on the Emotional Side-Effects of Antidepressants (OQESA), was developed using qualitative methods.

Emotional detachment and/or emotional blunting have multiple causes, as the cause can vary from person to person. Emotional detachment or emotional blunting often arises due to adverse childhood experiences, for example physical, sexual or emotional abuse. Emotional detachment is a maladaptive coping mechanism for trauma, especially in young children who have not developed coping mechanisms. Emotional detachments can also be due to psychological trauma in adulthood, like abuse, or traumatic experiences like war, automobile accidents etc.{{Citation |title=Chapter The Theory of Trauma-Related Structural Dissociation of the Personality |date=2010-11-01 |work=Dissociation and the Dissociative Disorders |pages=273–292 |publisher=Routledge |doi=10.4324/9780203893920 |isbn=978-0-203-89392-0 |url=https://lirias.kuleuven.be/handle/123456789/530325 |editor-last1=Dell |editor-last2=O'Neil |editor-first1=Paul F. |editor-first2=John A. |url-access=subscription }}{{Citation|last1=Foa|first1=Edna B.|title=Emotional Dissociation in Response to Trauma|date=1996|url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0310-5_10|work=Handbook of Dissociation: Theoretical, Empirical, and Clinical Perspectives|pages=207–224|editor-last=Michelson|editor-first=Larry K.|place=Boston, MA|publisher=Springer US|language=en|doi=10.1007/978-1-4899-0310-5_10|isbn=978-1-4899-0310-5|access-date=2021-03-22|last2=Hearst-Ikeda|first2=Diana|editor2-last=Ray|editor2-first=William J.|url-access=subscription}}

Emotional blunting is often caused by antidepressants, in particular selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) used in MDD and often as an add-on treatment in other psychiatric disorders.{{Cite journal|last1=McCabe|first1=Ciara|last2=Mishor|first2=Zevic|last3=Cowen|first3=Philip J.|last4=Harmer|first4=Catherine J.|date=2010|title=Diminished Neural Processing of Aversive and Rewarding Stimuli During Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor Treatment|journal=Biological Psychiatry|volume=67|issue=5|pages=439–445|doi=10.1016/j.biopsych.2009.11.001|pmid=20034615|pmc=2828549}}{{cite web |title=Emotional blunting: unresolved MDD symptom or effect of treatment? |url=https://progress.im/en/content/emotional-blunting-unresolved-mdd-symptom-or-effect-treatment |website=Progress In Mind |language=en |date=10 September 2019}} Individuals with MDD usually experience emotional blunting as well. Emotional blunting is a symptom of MDD, as depression is negatively correlated with emotional (both positive and negative) experiences.{{Cite journal|last1=Paradiso|first1=Sergio|last2=Ostedgaard|first2=Katharine|last3=Vaidya|first3=Jatin|last4=Ponto|first4=Laura Boles|last5=Robinson|first5=Robert|date=2013-02-28|title=Emotional blunting following left basal ganglia stroke: The role of depression and fronto-limbic functional alterations|journal=Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging|language=en|volume=211|issue=2|pages=148–159|doi=10.1016/j.pscychresns.2012.05.008|pmid=23176970 |pmc=4019790|issn=0925-4927}}

Schizophrenia often occurs with negative symptoms, extrapyramidal signs (EPS), and depression. The latter overlaps with emotional blunting and is shown to be a core part of the present effects.{{Cite journal|last1=Müller|first1=M. J.|last2=Kienzle|first2=B.|last3=Dahmen|first3=N.|date=2002|title=Depression, Emotional Blunting, and Akinesia in Schizophrenia: Overlap and Differentiation|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3570157|journal=The European Journal of Health Economics|volume=3|pages=S99–S103|doi=10.1007/s10198-002-0114-9 |jstor=3570157 |pmid=15609162 |s2cid=42372770 |issn=1618-7598|url-access=subscription}} Schizophrenia in general causes abnormalities in emotional understanding of individuals, all of which are clinically considered as an emotional blunting symptom. Individuals with schizophrenia show less emotional experiences, display less emotional expressions, and fail to recognize the emotional experiences and/or expressions of other individuals.{{Cite journal|last1=Henry|first1=Julie D.|last2=Green|first2=Melissa J.|last3=de Lucia|first3=Amber|last4=Restuccia|first4=Corinne|last5=McDonald|first5=Skye|last6=O'Donnell|first6=Maryanne|date=2007-09-01|title=Emotion dysregulation in schizophrenia: Reduced amplification of emotional expression is associated with emotional blunting|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0920996407002563|journal=Schizophrenia Research|language=en|volume=95|issue=1|pages=197–204|doi=10.1016/j.schres.2007.06.002|pmid=17630254 |s2cid=44415559 |issn=0920-9964|url-access=subscription}}

The changes in fronto-limbic activity in conjunction with depression succeeding a left hemisphere basal ganglia stroke (LBG stroke) may contribute to emotional blunting. LBG strokes are associated with depression and often caused by disorders of the basal ganglia (BG). Such disorders alter the emotional perception and experiences of the patient.

In many cases people with eating disorders (ED) show signs of emotional detachment. This is because many of the circumstances that often lead to an ED are the same as the circumstances that lead to emotional detachment. For example, people with ED often have experienced childhood abuse. Eating disorders on their own are a maladaptive coping mechanism and to cope with the effects of an eating disorder, people may turn to emotional detachment.{{Cite journal |last1=Reid |first1=Marie |last2=Wilson-Walsh |first2=Rebecca |last3=Cartwright |first3=Luke |last4=Hammersley |first4=Richard |date=May 2020 |title=Stuffing down feelings: Bereavement, anxiety and emotional detachment in the life stories of people with eating disorders |journal=Health & Social Care in the Community |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=979–987 |doi=10.1111/hsc.12930 |pmid=31840343 |s2cid=209384124 |issn=0966-0410|doi-access=free }}

Bereavement or losing a loved one can also be causes of emotional detachment.

Unfortunately, the prevalence of emotional blunting is not fully known.

Emotional detachment is a manipulative coping mechanism, which allows a person to react calmly to highly emotional circumstances. Emotional detachment, in this sense, is a decision to avoid engaging emotional connections, rather than an inability or difficulty in doing so, typically for personal, social, or other reasons. In this sense it can allow people to maintain boundaries, and avoid undesired impact by or upon others, related to emotional demands. As such it is a deliberate mental attitude which avoids engaging the emotions of others.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}

This detachment does not necessarily mean avoiding empathy; rather, it allows the person to rationally choose whether or not to be overwhelmed or manipulated by such feelings. Examples where this is used in a positive sense might include emotional boundary management, where a person avoids emotional levels of engagement related to people who are in some way emotionally overly demanding, such as difficult co-workers or relatives, or is adopted to aid the person in helping others.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}

Emotional detachment can also be "emotional numbing",{{Cite journal|last1=Allwood|first1=Maureen A.|last2=Bell|first2=Debora J.|last3=Horan|first3=Jacqueline|date=2011|title=Posttrauma numbing of fear, detachment, and arousal predict delinquent behaviors in early adolescence|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/51629833|journal=Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology|volume=40|issue=5|pages=659–667|doi=10.1080/15374416.2011.597081|pmid=21916685|s2cid=205874162|issn=1537-4416}} "emotional blunting", i.e., dissociation, depersonalization or in its chronic form depersonalization disorder.{{Cite journal|last1=Michal|first1=Matthias|last2=Koechel|first2=Ansgar|last3=Canterino|first3=Marco|last4=Adler|first4=Julia|last5=Reiner|first5=Iris|last6=Vossel|first6=Gerhard|last7=Beutel|first7=Manfred E.|last8=Gamer|first8=Matthias|date=2013-09-13|title=Depersonalization disorder: Disconnection of cognitive evaluation from autonomic responses to emotional stimuli|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=8|issue=9|pages=e74331|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0074331|pmid=24058547|issn=1932-6203|pmc=3772934|bibcode=2013PLoSO...874331M |doi-access=free}} This type of emotional numbing or blunting is a disconnection from emotion, it is frequently used as a coping survival skill during traumatic childhood events such as abuse or severe neglect. After continually using this coping mechanism, it can become a response to daily stresses.{{Cite journal|last=Kaplan|first=Carola M.|date=September 2013|title="Sudden Holes in Space and Time": Trauma, Dissociation, and the Precariousness of Everyday Life|url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07351690.2013.815064|journal=Psychoanalytic Inquiry|language=en|volume=33|issue=5|pages=467–478|doi=10.1080/07351690.2013.815064|s2cid=219728825 |issn=0735-1690|url-access=subscription}}

Emotional detachment may allow acts of extreme cruelty and abuse, supported by the decision to not connect empathically with the person concerned. Social ostracism, such as shunning and parental alienation, are other examples where decisions to shut out a person creates a psychological trauma for the shunned party.{{Citation|last=Williams|first=Kipling D.|title=Ostracism, Consequences and Coping|year=2011|author2=Nida, Steve A.|place=West Lafayette, IN|publisher=Purdue University}}

{{Portal|Psychology}}

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• Alexithymia
• Anhedonia § Social anhedonia
• Asociality
• Assertiveness
• Borderline Personality Disorder
• Dissociation
• Dissociative disorders (in DSM-IV)
• Emotional contagion
• Emotional dysregulation
• Emotional isolation
• Psychic distance
• Reactive attachment disorder
• Social rejection
• Splitting (psychology)
• Stoicism
• Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV

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Category:Symptoms and signs of mental disorders

Category:Emotion