Emotionally Shut Down: Can Someone Be Unaffected By Experiences If They Are Emotionally Shut Down?

Now that someone is an adult, they will have had many different experiences since they were a child. But, even though this is the case, it doesn’t mean that they will feel a lot different.

However, if they are not in tune with how they feel, this is not going to be something that will stand out. They can then continue to have many different experiences but no matter what they go through, life is typically not going to leave a mark on them.

An Important Part

What this illustrates is that in order for them to take life in, they will need to be able to feel. Having the ability to feel is what will allow them to truly experience what is going on externally.

Their feelings are then going to serve as a ‘receiver’ that allows them to pick on what is going on around them. Without his inner ‘receiver’, they won’t be able to pick up on the signals that are sent to them.

An Analogy

One way to understand this is to think about how a sponge and a rock respond to water. If a sponge is put into water, it will pick up a fair amount of water; whereas if a rock is put into water, it would just wash over it.

The sponge will be heavily impacted by the water, whilst the rock won’t be. The former is receptive to life and is able to take life in, yet the latter is not receptive to life and can’t take life in.

A Closer Look

Taking this into account, it won’t matter if they have lived a fairly normal life or have lived what could be described as a life of adventure. So, they might have had a variety of different jobs or careers, had numerous relationships and/or travelled to many different countries, for instance.

Of course, they will have stories to tell and there will be the mental impact of what took place, but that is likely to be about as far as it will go. This is not to say that they won’t have experienced any emotional reactions throughout their life; no, it is that these will generally not have been deep emotional reactions.

Another Part

Along with this, how they have reacted is likely to have been influenced by feelings from their past. In other words, their present will have unlocked feelings that they have carried since they were a child.

Due to these feelings, they are likely to have been moments when they overreacted and underreacted. Thanks to this, they might have often believed that what was going on for them was ‘irrational’.
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Steeping Back

If they were to step back and reflect on their life, they could soon wonder why they are generally unable to feel deeply and take life in. They could then see that they have not had a strong connection with their feelings for as long as they can remember.

And, if they started to reconnect with how they feel, they could see that parts of them are not very developed. The reason for this is that when they connect to these parts, they could feel like a powerless and dependent child.

What’s going on?

What this may show is that their early years were anything but nurturing and this caused them to go into a shut down state. As they would have been powerless and totally dependent, they wouldn’t have been able to do anything about what was going on.

So, becoming an unfeeling person would have been the only way for them to keep it together and function. If this hadn’t taken place, it is highly likely that they wouldn’t be alive.

Going Deeper

This may have been a stage of their life when they were abused and/or neglected. They would then have been deprived of the love that they needed and been deeply wounded in the process.

Disconnecting from their feelings and, thus, their body, would have stopped them from being overwhelmed. Losing their ability to take life in would have served them then but now it will no longer be serving them.

A New Experience

For them to be able to take life in, it will be important for them to face and work through the pain that is inside them. By doing this, they will gradually begin to settle down and open up, allowing them to take in more of life as a result.

This is something that will take courage and patience and persistence.

Awareness

If someone can relate to this and they are ready to change their life, they may need to reach out for external support. This is something that can be provided with the assistance of a therapist or healer.

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Oliver JR Cooper
http://www.oliverjrcooper.co.uk