Or does it allow you not to think about how something makes you feel? Or not think about why you don’t feel anything even when you should?
It’s easy to confuse emotional numbing with “not thinking,” but usually, when people intentionally immerse themselves completely in a task to avoid their thoughts, it’s because the thoughts make them feel uncomfortable. Usually that uncomfortable feeling is your body’s way of signaling something is important, and you’re not doing yourself any favors by just avoiding it. That doesn’t mean you should act on it, but stuffing it down doesn’t make it go away forever. Eventually it’s going to pop up again, probably at a very inconvenient time.
If you’re intentionally distracting yourself in order to not let yourself think, you risk doing something dumb. If you’re not letting yourself feel, you risk acting like a sociopath.
Does it help you not to think or not to feel?
Or does it allow you not to think about how something makes you feel? Or not think about why you don’t feel anything even when you should?
It’s easy to confuse emotional numbing with “not thinking,” but usually, when people intentionally immerse themselves completely in a task to avoid their thoughts, it’s because the thoughts make them feel uncomfortable. Usually that uncomfortable feeling is your body’s way of signaling something is important, and you’re not doing yourself any favors by just avoiding it. That doesn’t mean you should act on it, but stuffing it down doesn’t make it go away forever. Eventually it’s going to pop up again, probably at a very inconvenient time.
If you’re intentionally distracting yourself in order to not let yourself think, you risk doing something dumb. If you’re not letting yourself feel, you risk acting like a sociopath.