Key Takeaways
- Emotional detachment can be a coping mechanism or a symptom of mental health conditions like depression or PTSD.
- Practicing mindfulness and building safe, supportive relationships can help reduce emotional detachment.
Emotional detachment refers to being disconnected or disengaged from other people’s feelings. It can involve an inability or unwillingness to get involved in other people’s emotional lives. While this detachment may protect people from stress, hurt, and anxiety, it can also interfere with a person’s psychological, social, and emotional well-being.
Sometimes, it’s a coping mechanism people use when faced with stressful or difficult situations. In other cases, it can be a symptom of a mental health condition.
martin-dm / Getty Images
Key Signs of Emotional Detachment
There are some key signs and symptoms of being emotionally detached. These may include:
Emotional and Mental Symptoms
- Difficulty opening up to other people
- Feeling disconnected from other people
- Losing interest in people and activities
- Problems expressing emotions
- Struggling to feel positive emotions
Behavioral and Relational Symptoms
- Avoiding people, situations, or activities
- Difficulty opening up to other people
- Problems forming and maintaining relationships
- Feeling disconnected from other people
- Losing interest in people and activities
- Losing touch with people
- Not paying attention to other people
- Poor listening skills
- Preferring to be alone and withdrawing socially
Why Emotional Detachment Happens
Emotional detachment is influenced by past experiences and psychological conditions, but it’s also often a defense mechanism to cope with stress, trauma, or other problems. Common causes include:
Experiences
Life experiences can contribute to emotional detachment, including:
Children who grow up in abusive situations may use this detachment as a way to cope. Kids may also develop attachment problems as a result of their abuse, making it hard to become emotionally attached and involved in other people’s lives.
Mental Health Conditions
Emotional detachment can also be a symptom of a number of psychological conditions. These can include:
Medications
Emotional detachment can also be a side effect related to certain medications, including:
Talk to your doctor if you begin to experience emotional detachment while taking your antidepressant. Your doctor may need to adjust your dosage or switch you to a different medication.
Substance Use
Emotional detachment can also be a problem associated with a substance use disorder. If you have symptoms of a substance problem and are experiencing emotional detachment, discuss your treatment options with your doctor.
Voluntary Behavior
In other cases, people detach emotionally to:
- Cope with stress
- Establish boundaries
- Reduce feelings of anxiety
Sometimes, this can be a positive coping mechanism if you face a temporary problem. However, it can become problematic if it becomes an overused pattern of behavior that impairs your ability to form healthy relationships with others.
Trauma
Emotionally detaching from a situation can help protect people from the effects of traumatic experiences. While it can be a helpful coping strategy in the immediate aftermath of a traumatic event, it can interfere with functioning if it persists long after the threat has passed, affecting:
- Emotional processing
- Relationships
- Long-term healing
How It Relates to Attachment Disorders
Emotional detachment may also be a symptom of an attachment disorder. These may include:
- Reactive attachment disorder: This condition may emerge due to childhood abuse and neglect. As a result, children are unable to form healthy emotional bonds with their caregivers. Symptoms can include problems controlling and expressing emotions.
- Disinhibited social engagement disorder: This condition may occur when kids fail to form meaningful attachments with caregivers. Symptoms include being overly friendly and affectionate with strangers and showing little to no preference for their primary caregivers.
What to Do If You’re Emotionally Detached
It is important to remember that emotional detachment is not a mental health condition, but it might be a symptom of some mental disorders.
If you think you might be experiencing symptoms of emotional detachment, talk to a doctor or mental health professional.
Such symptoms can be a response to an acute but temporary situation, or they may be a sign of a mental health condition.
Your doctor can:
- Assess your symptoms
- Look at your health history
- Evaluate your physical health to help rule out any medical conditions that might be contributing to the symptoms you are experiencing
They will ask whether you have experienced recent changes in these areas and will want to know more about the impact these symptoms are having on your life and how long they have lasted.
What You Can Do to Feel More Connected
Addressing emotional detachment depends on what exactly is causing it. Your doctor will evaluate your symptoms and may make a diagnosis that can then help determine your treatment plan.
If your symptoms are related to a mental health condition such as depression, PTSD, or a personality disorder, your doctor will likely recommend treating the condition to help relieve your symptoms.
Treatments that your doctor may recommend include psychotherapy and medications. Psychotherapy approaches that might be utilized to treat emotional detachment include cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT):
- CBT addresses negative beliefs and maladaptive behaviors that contribute to emotional detachment. It helps people learn new coping mechanisms that strengthen their emotional skills without relying on detachment.
- ACT incorporates mindfulness practices to help people become more aware of and in control of their emotions. This allows them to notice difficult thoughts and feelings without trying to avoid them or getting overwhelmed.
How to Cope
If you are experiencing emotional detachment that is causing problems in your life and relationships, there are things you can do to help reintegrate your emotional connections. These include:
- Practicing mindfulness: Mindfulness is a technique that helps people focus on the present moment, including the physical environment and emotional responses. Learning mindfulness can help you pay attention to your emotions and build self-awareness.
- Strengthening your relationships: As you begin to build greater awareness of your own emotions, it is important to find ways to connect with safe people who will support your growth. This is particularly true if your emotional detachment is a response to adversarial relationships in your life.
- Finding ways to be emotionally vulnerable: Emotionally detached people can certainly love, but learning to open up emotionally to others takes time. Surrounding yourself with safe people who understand your needs and are willing to give you the time you need can help you gradually improve your emotional experiences and expressions.
- Reconnect with yourself: Find ways to get in touch with your emotions. Explore creative outlets and show yourself compassion. Consider starting a journaling practice so you can better track and explore your emotions.
Get Help Now
We’ve tried, tested, and written unbiased reviews of the best online therapy programs, including Talkspace, BetterHelp, and ReGain. Find out which option is the best for you.
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
-
Santoro G, Sideli L, Musetti A, Schimmenti A. The relationship between childhood trauma and shame: The mediating role of dissociation. Eur J Investig Health Psychol Educ. 2025;15(8):151. doi:10.3390/ejihpe15080151
-
Weilenmann S, Schnyder U, Parkinson B, Corda C, von Känel R, Pfaltz MC. Emotion transfer, emotion regulation, and empathy-related processes in physician-patient interactions and their association with physician well-being: a theoretical model. Front Psychiatry. 2018;9:389. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00389
-
Irfan N, Nair A, Bhaskaran J, Akter M, Watts T. Review of the current knowledge of reactive attachment disorder. Cureus. 2022;14(11):e31318. doi:10.7759/cureus.31318
-
Minnis H. What happens to disinhibited social engagement disorder over time? J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2018;57(5):304-305. doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2018.03.001
-
Aravind A, Agarwal M, Malhotra S, Ayyub S. Effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy on mental health issues: A systematic review. Ann Neurosci. 2024;32(4):321-327. doi:10.1177/09727531241300741
Thanks for your feedback!
What is your feedback?
Helpful
Report an Error
Other
