how do i turn my emotions back "on"?

Question

i spent a year total in iraq and during that time, my mind turned off my emotions to get me through what i was going through. ive been back and out of the military for about 3 years now. im still dealing with issues. not showing affection or emotion. getting angry when someone cries but feeling bad on the inside. how can i turn the emotions back on.

Answer 1

Your emotions are on, it is your feelings and their expression that might need work. This is typical for people who have been in a life or death environment. First understand that this is normal.

There are several possible way to approach this, but what you do will depend upon who you are deep down inside. Some can work though this be themselves. Others might respond faster by working with others. Interaction with other people is the key.

This can be as easy as watching old comedies and learning to express your joy alone. It can be as complicated as working with a professional or a group. Writing what you feel often helps. Do not worry about what you write, just try to express your feelings.

Deal with any recurring memories or dreams first. This will have the greatest impact upon your ability to express yourself. Go out alone to a place where you cannot be heard and scream if you need to scream. Get it out.

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

Turning off your emotions is a defense mechanism to protect you against what you have been living through.

The thing is, if you have been through a lot of pain and/or anger, this does not go away easily. It's still in your system. To keep on protecting you, you are still blocking it away.
To get your emotions back might mean for you that you need to go through what has happened again. Which means a confrontation with the emotions you have been pushing away. This might be a painful process, and it might be very helpful to do this with a professional and not just by yourself. This way you can live through it in a safe way, and get the help you need on giving it all a place inside of you.

What you are describing is a reaction you got from being traumatized.

What I am saying next is out of personal experience. This was the way for me, and does not have to be the way for you. We are all different.
I have been pretty heavily traumatized in my youth. What I found out afterwards, was that talking about it was not enough for me. What really helped me was to go to the core of my emotions, live through them so I could give them freedom at first, and then a place inside of me. I went through therapy for that with a very good therapist. The therapy was based on expressing emotions, and had several great working exercises to get to the emotions. Because, for many traumatized people, this is the most heavy part. In a way it's protecting you against all this hurt and/or anger, but the defense mechanism becomes like a brick wall and becomes actually destructive towards yourself. (For instance, without the capability of feeling emotions, you will not be completely able to give love or get love. relationships are in many times doomed to fail.) This was a huge help for me. It was a painful process but it gave me so much strength!
Therapy I can advise are things like for instance primal scream, gestalt therapy, bonding psychotherapy, or other emotional therapies.

I wish you all the strength you might need!

Answer 4

your emotions are still on, otherwise you would not feel bad inside. seems like you are experiencing fear of showing your emotions to others bc of the extreme danger you were placed in. at that time your NEEDED to close off certain parts of yourself to bc safe, literally. the first step is to start small with someone you trust will not harm you emotionally or physically. start by telling him or her the exact things you shared in your question, ask for support from your loved ones. if you dont have loved ones, then the first step is to gain a support system of people you can trust.

Answer 5

Prayer.

Solitude.

Volunteer work. Someone once told me that they volunteered in some sort of hospital setting where they just went in and held babies, rocked them, changed their diapers, bottle fed them, etc. It was like a hospital, and the babies were the children of drug addicted mothers.

He said that it really helped him get back in touch with his emotions.


Namaste.

Answer 6

Talk to a licensed therapist.