I don’t feel anything anymore. Why?

[DrFisheye]

So these past 2 months I’ve been feeling something that really worries me. I don’t know how to cure it or what it is and that’s why I’m here.

So recently I’ve been feeling absolutely nothing. No sadness, nervousness, stress. I have been feeling happy though.

My dad left to england 2 weeks ago and before when he would go, I would start worrying and feeling sad about him, thinking that something would happen to him. But now, I absolutely feel nothing. I don’t even feel that he’s gone. I have forgotten that I have a father and this really worries me as I’m not the same anymore.

Im losing my religion aswell. I am a Muslim right but I didn’t wear the headscarf and I didn’t pray often. And I always had this connection with god. I would make prayers to him, ask for his guidance, ect. And now it’s like I don’t even care that I there’s a god. And every day it’s just fading and fading.

i also has several tests and exams. I didn’t study, I wasn’t nervous and I basically didn’t even care and it didn’t phase me.

I don’t know what’s happening to me and I really wish someone could help me out. I’m usually a happy person but this all kinda bums me out.

I even don’t feel love anymore. I don’t like anyone like I used to. I don’t care about getting a boyfriend or useless shit like that. i don’t care about my friends, coming late to school, embarrassing myself.

The things I do feel however is when I do drama. I love the feeling of acting and doing plays in my class. I also love the feeling of squash. But other than that. I’m numb. And I need help...

[Ell43]

Hey there,

I’m really glad you posted in here and are looking for some help. I’m sorry that you’ve been feeling so anxious lately about all these changes in your motivation and emotions. That must be a really crappy feeling!! I am really glad to read that you are still feeling joy from drama and squash though! It’s really important that we find things in our lives that make us feel happy like that, so we have outlets for when other areas of our lives get a bit overwhelming.

I guess in general it is pretty normal that through adolescents our priorities begin to shift a bit, and things that might have seemed really important in the past no longer matter to us now. Similarly, it is generally through teenage years that people start to question their religion or faith, and start to wonder if what they have grown up with is what they truly believe and subscribe to. It’s all sort of part of growing up and finding that autonomy.

However, I don’t think feeling “numb” as you described is necessarily a “typical” part of growing up. I wonder if there is someone in your life that you feel you can talk to about this a bit more? A family member, trusted teacher or school counsellor, even a close friend who has some insight into your life and your usual behaviour?
You might already know this, but if you felt like you needed to seek professional help, you can go and visit your GP and get a referral to see a psychologist about this too.

Sometimes when we start to panic about what’s going on in our head we can sort of start to do something called “over generalising”. By that I mean we start to tell outselves that EVERYTHING is bad or scary or gone ect, when in actual fact it might be just one area or person or situation that is like that.
I wonder if this is going on for you at all? For example, if we take the point you made about “I don’t feel love anymore” you gave the example of not being interested in finding a boyfriend atm. I guess the challenge is can you think of any examples that might disprove this statement? How do you feel towards your parents? Siblings (if you have any)? Pets? Hobbies (like drama and squash)? Would you say you love any of those examples?
I find sometimes trying to think of the exceptions to the things I’m telling myself helps calm me down a little bit. Maybe it will work for you too?

El 😃