Would it be possible for a person to sort of shut down emotionally? Like, consciously, they know that they are shutting down. So say after a few deaths and major life events that have taken a toll on them, the next time it happens they just...don't care. They stop caring about death, or feeling empathetic, or anything really. But the difference is, they know what they are doing. They can't exactly stop it, cause it's already taken over, but they know that they forced themselves to stop feeling.