Loss can affect different people in different ways which are difficult to explain, especially when emotions feel distant or hard to access.
When you’re feeling stuck or numb, it can make grief seem confusing, frustrating or isolating even when life continues around you.
Why Grief Can Make You Feel Stuck Or Numb
When you’re dealing with grief, you might feel like it should leave you feeling non-stop sad all of the time, however it can actually leave you feeling stuck, numb or feeling disconnected from yourself and the world around you.
If your mind can’t make sense of what happened, it can try and pause to try and protect you, which might leave you moving through the stages of grief without feeling much at all.
It can also leave you feeling you’re stalled, as your body keeps on scanning for emotional triggers, like places, dates, songs or routines, which can all spike stress and shut down your motivation.
If you feel like you’re unsure of what is setting you off, you can find yourself trying to avoid life altogether, which will make you feel even more stuck.
How Emotional Numbness Can Be Part Of Loss
When loss hits you harder than your mind can process, the emotional numbness can kick-in as a built-in survival response.
This can leave you feeling flat, detached or feeling strangely fine, as your brain temporarily turns down the sensation, to try and keep you functioning.
That happening isn’t proof that you didn’t care; it’s just your system “buffering” you from having an overload. That isn’t proof that you didn’t care. It’s just your system buffering you from having an overload.
Numbness can also shift with emotional triggers too, like a familiar song, scent or date.
Gentle Ways To Acknowledge What You Are Feeling
Even if you find that your emotions are feeling messy or faint, try naming what’s present without trying to fix it.
Lean on self compassion practices. Talk to yourself the way you’d speak to a friend and let “this is hard” be enough. If you’re unsure how you feel, ask yourself “what do I need right now – rest, steadiness or company?”.
You can also try a supportive conversation with a trusted friend (or family member), and only share the size of the truth you can carry today.
Healthy Outlets For Grief When Words Feel Hard
If you don’t feel like talking, there are other artistic expressions you can try like sketching shapes, making a photo collage, playing an instrument or writing single words on scraps of paper.
Try something physical like doing some walking intervals, slow stretches or yoga, punching a pillow or even dancing to a feel-good song.
You can try some mindfulness practices like trying to name 5 things you see, track your breath for 10 cycles or place a hand on your chest and feel the warmth.
Nature is always a good option if your indoor air feels too heavy, like sitting underneath a tree, listening to water or following a path without a destination.
Hi, my name is Gemma, and I’m the owner of MakeupMuddle.com. I’m a true beauty obsessive, and love writing about anything to do with beauty – I have been a beauty writer since 2012.