[Whisper of help]

I'm not talking about a robot, or anything to that degree, but I have noticed that I feel pretty detached a lot of the time. I just don't feel emotions as strongly as I see other people do. My great grandmother died a few months back, and, despite having been very close to her, I barely shed a tear. I had the shock, then the sense of loss, but it was more as if I had heard the news about someone that I haven't seen in years, someone I didn't really know as well. Things that bring joy to others often bring about a nice chuckle from me.

But the most extreme example of this was the other night, when my girlfriend was threatening suicide. I felt the fear, and the worry, and all that accompanies it, but a few minutes after I found out, I felt nothing. No emotion at all; I was completely numb.

I wonder, is this merely a coping mechanism, or is there possibly something more to it? I sense that I should feel more than I do, some of the time.

By the way, she didn't do it. I was able to talk her out of it, and the next day proceeded to be one of the best we've had

[lavieenrose]

Has it always been this way? Or did your emotional detachment begin at a particular point in time? Was it paired with some event? Depression can often cause that kind of detachment, numbness. It would be good to have professional help in sorting it out, if you don't already.

[Umbral_Seraph]

I have very weak emotions as well and am known for apathy...
Part of it is that I'm naturally wired with a weak emotional response (somewhat genetic). The rest of it is a learned unconscious coping mechanism steming from the perfectionist pressures put on me from a very early age.

[Whisper of help]

Originally Posted by lavieenrose

Has it always been this way? Or did your emotional detachment begin at a particular point in time? Was it paired with some event? Depression can often cause that kind of detachment, numbness. It would be good to have professional help in sorting it out, if you don't already.

My mom always said I was a very calm baby, but that might just have been my personality.

I think it started when my mom married a guy from the military. I was eight at the time, and we moved up to Pennsylvania, where I didn't have any family or anything. She had always been more or less shut up in her room, while my grandmother filled her role as a mom, but when we moved I left behind just about everyone I had known, I had barely seen my new stepdad prior to the move, and I hadn't ever really gotten to know my mother, either.

When I'd visit my family, I'd always be excited to go, and I'd break down in tears when it was time to return to my mom. But over time, even though the rest of my family would still be crying, I felt less and less emotion whenever it was time to go.

I've also had to move pretty regularly because of the military. Almost exactly a year after that first move, we had to move again, and I had to leave all the friends I had made. In the new home, I was still about a thousand miles away from any family I knew. Once we got settled in there, we had to move again, after living there for a year. So, in a matter of three years, I had left behind all my friends three times, and I was still only able to see my family on long breaks from school. We lived in Missouri for about five years, and about six months ago we moved up to Michigan. This last move didn't bother me nearly as much, because of the detachment, but still I can barely see my family. To this day, I don't feel the same about my mom and her husband that I do about my dad and his family. I feel normal when I'm with my dad. I don't feel the numbness.

This is actually getting in the way of my relationship with my girlfriend. She's very emotional, and I sometimes say things that I don't think will matter, because of my detachment, but seem to hit a nerve with her. I just can't anticipate what things could bring on strong emotion, because I don't usually feel strong emotion.