I feel numb to other people's suffering
in Psychology & Therapy ·
It sounds a bit like a personality disorder. Generally speaking, the symptoms you're describing are pretty common in people who have dealt with intense emotional trauma in the past. It often starts with being hyper-sensitive and eventually swings all the way over to feeling totally numb. If you’re looking to change that, giving psychotherapy a shot might help. It can be effective depending on how long this has been going on and what the actual root cause is—which isn't always what you'd first assume. The good news is that you actually want to change this, which means there's definitely hope. Good luck!