Emotional detachment

Despair by Edvard Munch (1894) captures emotional detachment seen in Borderline Personality Disorder.[1][2]

In psychology, emotional detachment, also known as emotional blunting, is a condition or state in which a person lacks emotional connectivity to others, whether due to an unwanted circumstance or as a positive means to cope with anxiety. Such a coping strategy, also known as emotion-focused coping, is used when avoiding certain situations that might trigger anxiety.[3] It refers to the evasion of emotional connections. Emotional detachment may be a temporary reaction to a stressful situation, or a chronic condition such as depersonalization-derealization disorder. It may also be caused by certain antidepressants. Emotional blunting, also known as reduced affect display, is one of the negative symptoms of schizophrenia.

  1. ^ Aarkrog T (1990). Edvard Munch: The Life of a Person with Borderline Personality as Seen Through His Art [Edvard Munch, et livsløb af en grænsepersonlighed forstået gennem hans billeder]. Danmark: Lundbeck Pharma A/S. ISBN 978-8798352419.
  2. ^ Wylie HW (1980). "Edvard Munch". The American Imago; A Psychoanalytic Journal for the Arts and Sciences. 37 (4). Johns Hopkins University Press: 413–443. JSTOR 26303797. PMID 7008567.
  3. ^ "Emotion-focused coping". APA Dictionary of Psychology. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. n.d.