Emotional flattening is one of the evidences that mental disorders escape our preconceived schemes about what it means to suffer.

This is because people who experience this mental phenomenon, despite seeing their capacity to experience and express emotions reduced, do not feel discomfort about this fact itself, as one would expect from someone who is repressed, but rather suffer from the consequences that this fact generates in their social environment.

In this article we will see what are the typical signs of emotional flattening , its causes and the treatments associated with this phenomenon.

What is emotional flattening?

Affective flattening is a psychological phenomenon related to the lack of expression and experimentation of emotions . In fact, this condition is also called simply emotional indifference, because the one who experiences it acts as if he were not interested in the emotional background, his own or someone else’s, of the situations he is experiencing.

For example, a person with emotional flattening may remain indifferent to a traffic accident with serious injuries, or not react to seeing a family member cry. Similarly, will not show that he is very happy or very angry , or it will be very difficult for him to react in that way (or in a way that shyly reminds him of the expression of those emotions).

In addition, as we will see, emotional flattening is a typical symptom of severe mental disorders such as schizophrenia, as well as dementia and other neurological diseases.

Emotional indifference: symptoms

It should be borne in mind that although emotional flattening almost always goes hand in hand with other symptoms that damage a person’s quality of life, it is not in itself sadness or stupor, or any other state that generates psychological pain. It is not only the absence of intense positive emotions, but also the significant reduction in the frequency and intensity with which negative emotional states occur.

However, it must be taken into account that there is no pure emotional flattening , and most people who experience this condition first-hand can experience emotions to a greater or lesser extent, even if only in exceptionally important situations. As in any psychological trait, the expression and experience of emotions goes to quantities, not everything is “either yes or no”.

The difference with anhedonia

Emotional flattening is not exactly the same as anhedonia. The latter is, in a strict sense, the inability to feel pleasure.

Although in many cases emotional flattening and anhedonia go hand in hand and therefore sometimes it is difficult to distinguish the effects of one from the other (as they occur in the same individual), in emotional flattening the indifference towards emotions is global, while in anhedonia it is centred only on the appreciation of the pleasurable character of the experiences.

The difference with depression

Emotional flattening should not be confused with the effect that depression has on mood.

While depressive disorders generate anhedonia and general mood swings, people with emotional flattening do not feel down. They simply experience emotions in a very low-key way, or not at all: neither positive nor negative. That is why they often do not say they have a problem emotionally, given that is not something that causes them discomfort .

For example, it is not the same as a person who smokes not appreciating the taste of a cigarette to one who cannot feel sorry for the death of a pet.

Causes of emotional flattening

The causes of emotional flattening are almost always related to other problems and symptoms that constitute a mental disorder or neurological disease. In this sense, Autism Spectrum Disorders, schizophrenia and dementias stand out.

1. TEA

Some people with autism find it difficult to vividly experience and express emotions. This, added to the other problems they have in communicating with others, makes their social relationships difficult.

2. Schizophrenia

In some patients with schizophrenia, emotional flattening is also common. This phenomenon would be one of the symptoms associated to the severe psychological alterations produced by this pathology.

Thus, in schizophrenia, emotional flattening is part of the so-called negative symptoms , those that have to do with the lack of certain psychological processes, and not with their excess or unwanted presence (the latter is what happens, for example, with hallucinations).

3. Dementia

People with dementia may become emotionally flattened as a result of the progressive impoverishment of the range of mental experiences they suffer from as a result of the degradation of the brain.

Treatment

Emotional flattening is not treated as something isolated, but as one of the manifestations of a mental disorder or illness. That is why the efforts of clinical intervention programs are directed to the root of this problem, something that depends on each case and the characteristics of the patients. However, the use of psychopharmaceuticals is normally required .