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What can I do to enter a numb state of being so that I don't feel constantly dragged down, fatigue, stress, and all the other downs people experience? For years I've tried exercising, eating healthy, etc. It works to some degree. I get plenty of sleep. I believe the issue is mental. For example, this morning I have a truck load of science experiments to build, but as I sat down to start building them I was swamped with horrible feelings, making it feel like I was carrying a mountain on my shoulders. At least one issue is that I get stressed due to fear of failure. I would much rather spend my entire day thinking. To leave my inner world of thought and actually do physical stuff feels like climbing a tall mountain. It's painful.

Is there anything I can do to numb such sensations? Sometimes I want to be a robot who feels no pain. Perhaps coffee is the answer. Or meditation. Or electric shock therapy lol. Or hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Or joggers high. Or some kind of psychological therapy or hypnosis.

The reason I ask about becoming numb is that twice when life became incredibly horrible I suddenly had the most wonderful blissful sensation of numbness sweep over me. There are no words to describe how wonderful this numbness felt. It didn't last long, about 10 minutes, but during those 10 minutes I could do anything without pain /stress / sadness / fatigue / fear / feeling down. It would be great and more productive to be able to feel like that during my work hours. Thank you so very much for any help!

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  • If this can be re-worded to not request personal advice, please edit and we can see about re-opening. Thanks. – Susan Sep 17 '16 at 17:45
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These could be symptoms of different medical problems, depression, anxiety, or other issues. In lieu of personal advice or a discussion of treatments, I advise seeing your primary care provider as a starting point for evaluation and management; they can guide you best.

In addition to a medical evaluation, mindfulness medication and deep breathing are techniques commonly used in behavioral health for stress, anxiety, and other issues. They use principles of quieting the external stimuli and internal stimuli and being present in the moment, still, at peace.

However: this would be in addition to, not instead of, seeing a medical professional to evaluate potential causes of your multiple symptoms.

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    Hi! Interesting answer. Thanks. Though, do you have some references to backup you claims (in accordance with Health SE policies)? Particularly concerning your claims that _"Cognitive Behavioral Therapy has been shown to be as effective or more effective than medication in both short and long term management of anxiety, PTSD, panic disorder, agoraphobia." I think backuping up this statement with a link to some studies might be useful. Thank you. BW – S.Victor Sep 14 '16 at 21:35
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    Agree with S.Victor. Two questions: 1. why a psychologist and not a psychiatrist? 2. I think it would also be interesting to have some references for the part "ALL humans develop maladaptive patterns to stressful events in their life when growing up that influence their neuropsychological processing of external and internal stimuli throughout life". Finally, if I may: I really don't want to be rude, but even a MD should provide some references to his answer. MDs who publish papers do backup their claims with references. I think this should be the same on health SE. Cheers! Felipe – Felipe Sep 14 '16 at 21:54
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    Thanks @Doctor Whom for editing your answer with references. I am however not convinced by your answer in general which I find too much advocating CBT in favor of pharmacothery without providing the references for a superiority of CBT over pharmacotherpay. Also, you say "This sounds very much like depression with components of anxiety." (interesting diagnosis, not sure the question provides all the DSM criteria) but you mainly link evidence (your meta-analysis) for CBT for generalised anxiety disorders and not depression. – Felipe Sep 15 '16 at 20:20
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    Though, according to uptodate, depression should be first addressed with pharmacotherapy. Furthermore your medscape link states " The combination approach yields superior results for most patients compared to either single modality", which is something which doesn't reflect in your answer where you mainly talk about CBT. Finally, your way of addressing depression/anxiety might be different from other clinics and hospitals. – Felipe Sep 15 '16 at 20:20
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    Anyway, I think answering those "looking for personal medical advice question" can lead you to a very slippery slope as you really don't have enough background (positive family history? Drug abuse?) to provide a reliable answer. In my opinion, your answer isn't really based on objective evidences (also example "I recommend psychologist for all marriages" --> evidence?). Hope you understand my points. See you soon on other health SE questions! Cheers! – Felipe Sep 15 '16 at 20:21

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