Thread by @bazzapower

[THREAD] let’s talk about the inability to cry. It is something that happens a lot, especially when our mental health is not doing well. Let’s discuss why this happens, whether it is permanent or not and the impact of not being able to cry has on our mental health.

Not being able to cry is a common occurrence and can have quite a few causes. There is the environmental or family side, who could have discouraged children from crying or punished them more for crying. The kids learn not to cry for fear of having worse punishment.

This can translate into an adult who fears crying or who got so used to not block it that even when they want to, they are not able to cry. Then there is the emotional exhaustion side. When anxiety and depression have been going on for too long, we get tired.

That means that there is that apathy that sets in and we are no longer able to cry even if we want to. It is that numbness that makes us feel that we may not care even if we actually. This happen mainly in people whose mental health has been bad for too long.

Therefore, the brain shuts down our emotions, making us unable to cry. Also, there is the perception that we have of crying. Generally, it might be seen as weak or not in control, so it is a behaviour we discourage within ourselves even though it is a good tool for externalizing.

While these difficulties crying can be deeply unsettling and we may feel that we don’t care because we don’t cry for tragedies, it is actually not the case at all. We can feel deep sadness and grief even if we don’t try. Initial shock can also stop us from crying.

Fortunately, there are things we can do to help unlock that. One is therapy. Whether it is emotional numbness or being discouraged to cry, it means we are keeping too many of our thoughts and emotions within us, and it may help to have someone help us open up.

Also, if you don’t have access to therapy now, try externalizing in other ways. Talk about it with other people you trust or journal until you start to habituate yourself externalizing and being able to cry may come back.

Also, it is important to be patient with ourselves. It takes a long time for our mental health to get to where it is now, and It may take a while to recover as well. Being patient with ourselves and knowing it is not a short term journey can help avoid that frustration.

For almost everyone, this is not a permanent phase and the ability to cry will come back, especially once the numbness goes away. It is important to note that some side effects of anti depressants, especially initially can make us unable to cry, but that shouldn’t last long.

Hope that this helps to understand a little bit why this happen from a psychological perspective and validate your emotions or grief even if you are not showing it by crying.