BMC Psychiatry. Prim Care Companion CNS Disord. Whats the outlook for people with emotional blunting? Carr AR, et al. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. Functional recovery in major depressive disorder: focus on early optimized treatment. Healthline has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical associations. Psychiatry (Edgmont). Emotional blunting in patients with major depressive disorder: A brief non-systematic review of current research. 1993). Cookies policy. There are ways music and studying can work together, and some ways they, If youre considering meeting with a psychiatrist but prefer remote visits, online psychiatry may be right for you. This study investigated the experience of emotional blunting, and its impact on overall functioning and quality of life, in the . There is, however, a paucity of studies comprehensively investigating this symptom and its potential impact on patients overall functioning and health-related quality of life. These findings are in line with the results of a previous online survey undertaken to identify determinants of treatment effectiveness and tolerability in patients with MDD or bipolar disorder; in that study, emotional blunting was found to be a common treatment-emergent adverse event, leading to discontinuation of antidepressant medication in more than one-third of respondents [15]. The mean (SD) ODQ score for the antidepressant as cause domain was 18.0 (6.4) points in patients in the acute phase of depression and 17.6 (5.9) points in those in remission (maximum possible score, 30 points). However, it has. Background: Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Part I: clinical characteristics. This may include cuddling with a stuffed animal, taking a warm bath or shower, gripping a piece of ice, or eating spicy or strong-flavored food. We showed previously that citalopram reduces resting-state functional connectivity in healthy volunteers in a number of brain regions, including the dorso-medial prefrontal cortex, which may be related to its clinical effects. Participants had previously consented to participate in research. IsHak WW, James DM, Mirocha J, et al. The multifaceted nature of alexithymia A neuroscientific perspective. 1. Respondents were asked which of a list of symptoms they had experienced during their current phase of depression (including emotional blunting), and were asked to rate the severity of the symptoms experienced on a scale of 1 (not at all severe) to 7 (extremely severe). Methods: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2014.09.007. Habert J, Katzman MA, Oluboka OJ, et al. difficulty . Anhedonia is also a common residual symptom in patients with MDD [29]. Emotional quotient in frontotemporal dementia vs. Alzheimers disease: the role of socioemotional agnosia. Browse our online resources and find a, Antidepressants have been used for many years to help manage symptoms of depression. Unraveling apathy in Korsakoff Syndrome patients receiving long-term care with and without cerebrovascular comorbidity. Wellbutrin can also affect the central nervous system and motor function. Find a Therapist and Mental Health Support, What You Need to Know About the Newest Antidepressants, Antidepressants with the Least Sexual Side Effects. If your emotional blunting is caused by a mental health condition like depression, schizophrenia, PTSD, or BPD, talk therapy may help. Depressed patients with emotional blunting had much higher total blunting scores on OQuESA than controls (42.8314.73 versus 25.7315.00, p<0.0001) and there was a . Reduced affect display, sometimes referred to as emotional blunting or emotional numbing, is a condition of reduced emotional reactivity in an individual. J Affect Disord. These are described here along with strategies to help patients cope. Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common yet serious mood disorder that can greatly impact your daily life. The observed prevalence of anhedonia in patients in the acute phase of depression in this study is consistent with previous reports showing this symptom to be present in approximately 75% of patients [28]. In the present study, patients with higher ODQ scores (i.e., more severe emotional blunting) were more likely to be in the acute phase of depression, to be male, to currently have addiction or have a history of addiction, and to have experienced severe trauma. 2017;17(1):38. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-017-1207-4. The new study helps disentangle this position by testing the effects of the drugs in people who do not have a diagnosis of depression. (2019). These side effects may include: anxiety. Emotional blunting with antidepressant treatments: A survey among depressed patients. Sandell K, Borns H. Functioning numbness instead of feelings as a direction: young adults experiences of antidepressant use. Enrollment quotas were imposed with respect to patient age (50% aged50years) and sex (60% female). Lancet. Subsequent papers in the series will explore the impact of emotional blunting on functioning and overall quality of life, the prevalence of trauma and its association with emotional blunting, and differences between patient and healthcare provider perspectives regarding the experience of emotional blunting in patients with MDD. Another possibility is that emotional blunting represents a residual depressive symptom. Discontinuation syndrome and antidepressants. Would you like email updates of new search results? 2016;61(9):51023. The decision to stop taking an antidepressant is complex and difficult to make. When people display emotions in a way most other people see as limited, experts sometimes refer to this as flat affect.. Emotional blunting may reflect in your facial expressions and other nonverbal cues. 2013 Dec 17;(12):CD008851. sharing sensitive information, make sure youre on a federal Even if you dont feel the same amount of happiness that these activities used to fill you with, they can still provide a boost in mood and open up your emotional range. You may also see it referred to by its generic name, bupropion. Recruitment of study participants, scripting of the online survey questionnaires, and hosting were undertaken by Kantar (London, UK). Dialogues Clin Neurosci. Inside Bipolar Podcast: Do Medical Professionals Know Best When It Comes to Bipolar Disorder? SSRIs and SNRIs are two commonly prescribed antidepressants. The population for this analysis comprised all patients who met the study inclusion criteria and completed the online survey. 2014;16(2):17183. Emotional blunting is a common symptom in patients with depression, being reported in about 60% of patients receiving selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) or serotonin-noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) [1,2,3,4,5,6,7].Patients experiencing emotional blunting report feeling a restricted range of emotions and an inability to experience expected emotional responses []. https://doi.org/10.2147/NDT.S325954. health.harvard.edu/blog/discontinuation-syndrome-and-antidepressants-2019040416361, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jts.22087, Emotional Detachment: What It Is and How to Overcome It, Emotional Exhaustion: What It Is and How to Treat It, Emotional Contagion: Why Emotions Are Contagious, How You Unwind After Work Can Affect Your Mood the Next Day, Thinking of Trying the Havening Technique? but then started losing touch w my emotions. Just over one-third of patients were considering stopping or had stopped their antidepressant as a result. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. Based on responses to the individual questions in the antidepressant as cause domain (Table 3), 45% of patients indicated that they believed that their antidepressant medication was affecting their emotions, and 39% indicated that they were considering stopping or had already stopped their antidepressant because of perceived emotional side effects. Emotional blunting is a term sometimes used to describe a persons limited emotional reactivity. Medication, therapy, brain stimulation techniques, or self-help strategies could work for you. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.108.051110. Finally, due to the cross-sectional study design, any causal inferences should be interpreted with caution. This paper presents data on the clinical presentation of emotional blunting in depression from the patient perspective. Double-blind, placebo-controlled comparison of the antidepressant efficacy and tolerability of bupropion XR and venlafaxine XR. The most common side effects of Wellbutrin are gastrointestinal. Some potential treatment options a mental healthcare professional might recommend include: While emotional blunting and its causes should be treated by a licensed mental healthcare professional, theres plenty that you can do on your own to help find relief from emotional blunting. Reviews for Wellbutrin XL Top reviews Most recent Most helpful High rating Time on medication If youre considering switching medications, its essential to follow your doctors tapering instructions. A recent study has demonstrated that this validated assessment scale captures aspects of emotional blunting in patients with depression receiving antidepressant treatment that are not well measured by other scales more commonly used for assessing depressive symptom severity [17]. Last medically reviewed on April 22, 2022. Zimmerman M, Ellison W, Young D, Chelminski I, Dalrymple K. How many different ways do patients meet the diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorder? That difficulty is sometimes referred to as emotional blunting. In a survey of more than 1800 patients in New Zealand taking a range of different antidepressants, 60% of respondents reported feeling emotionally numb [10]. Depression is not a consistent syndrome: an investigation of unique symptom patterns in the STAR*D study. We analyzed data from adult outpatients with acute major depressive disorder who participated in three 8-week randomized controlled trials. "These can persist and can prevent people from continuing with their medication . Goodwin GM, et al. feeling disconnected from your body or mind, indifference toward yourself or those you love. The importance of addressing patient perspectives when managing mental health disorders such as depression is well recognized [30,31,32,33]. The experience of emotional blunting was slightly more frequent in men than women (52% versus 44%) and in those with higher Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) scale scores. It's natural to feel empty or numb from time to time. Goerlich KA. However, there is a paucity of studies comprehensively investigating this symptom and its functional impact. Others still have suggested that emotional blunting is more of a symptom revealed, 9 meaning that once the antidepressants are . 2015;56:2934. Cite this article. Health reporter Psychedelic drug psilocybin, found in magic mushrooms, is as good at reducing symptoms of depression as conventional treatment, a small, early-stage study has suggested. Sheehan DV, Nakagome K, Asami Y, Pappadopulos EA, Boucher M. Restoring function in major depressive disorder: a systematic review. Join a support group or program to help address substance use. Instead, its considered a symptom of an underlying physical or mental cause. Of particular note, just over half of patients with MDD reporting emotional blunting considered this to be caused by their depression, while 45% believed that their antidepressant medication was blunting their emotions. 2011;124(6):4956. Results: Questions cover five domains of emotional blunting: general reduction in emotions, reduction in positive emotions, emotional detachment from others, not caring, and antidepressant as cause. Ann Clin Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2018.09.027. It can also appear alongside schizophrenia or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Learn about their similarities and differences here. 2023 Healthline Media LLC. 2016 May 15;196:225-33. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2016.02.042. Potential respondents were provided with information about the study before being screened for eligibility. How Long Do Antidepressants Take to Work? In the acute phase of depression, sleep problems, fatigue/lack of energy, low motivation, and mood symptoms were all reported by more than 80% of patients. Use of an internet-based survey enables the acquisition of a large sample size across different countries over a short period of time and facilitates the collection of data across a relatively large number of variables, permitting detection of cross-sectional response patterns among patient groups. of emotional blunting on functioning and overall quality of life, the prevalence of trauma and its association with emotional blunting, and dierences between patient and healthcare provider perspectives regarding the experi-ence of emotional blunting in patients with MDD. You can get psychological help by finding a mental health counselor. Antidepressants that commonly cause emotional blunting include: Many experts believe that SSRIs and SNRIs can cause dulled emotions because they interact with your serotonin levels. A 2017 survey reported that 46% of people on antidepressants experienced symptoms of emotional numbness. 2007;99(13):839. This could also lead to emotional blunting. Treatment effectiveness and tolerability outcomes that are most important to individuals with bipolar and unipolar depression. Imagine buying a ticket to a comedy movie. Managing antidepressant adverse effects Primum non nocere -Hippocratic Oath With such a range of possible causes for emotional blunting, its a good idea to check in with a physician or mental health professional. This paperthe first in a series exploring different aspects of emotional blunting in MDDpresents data on the clinical characteristics of emotional blunting from the patient perspective. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Whens the Right Time to Stop an Antidepressant? Consequently, the presence of these side effects can decrease the scores on depression scales and hide the presence of this new symptomatology at the same time. Emotional blunting is also a side effect of many antidepressants. 2018;26(1):25. Patients with emotional blunting very frequently experience anhedonia; however, the emotions that are blunted are not limited to pleasure, and other emotions, including negative emotions, are also blunted or toned down [8]. If antidepressant medication is the cause of your emotional blunting, a psychiatrist may transition you to a different drug or adjust your dose. official website and that any information you provide is encrypted As mentioned previously, emotional blunting is a symptom. A further 27% of patients in both disease phases believed that both their depression and their antidepressant medication contributed to their emotional blunting. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32279-7. Wellbutrin XL has an average rating of 7.4 out of 10 from a total of 285 reviews for the treatment of Depression. 2021;85: 102000. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2021.102000. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. 2015;76(11): e1480. Oey MJ, et al. When treating PTSD, for example, somatic experiencing or cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) may help. Psych Central does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Google Scholar. Again, you notice those around you are visibly upset, yet you dont feel that depth of distress in quite the same way. So, reducing the dose is another option you can consider discussing with your doctor. Article Lam RW, McIntosh D, Wang J, et al; CANMAT Depression Work Group. Your depression treatment options are almost limitless. Changing medication doses, starting a substance use program, or beginning talk therapy, for example, wont make emotional blunting disappear overnight. difficulty maintaining relationships. Franken IH, Rassin E, Muris P. The assessment of anhedonia in clinical and non-clinical populations: further validation of the Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale (SHAPS). Emotional blunting is not a diagnosis on its own, but a symptom of an underlying condition. Almost three-quarters of patients in the acute phase of depression and one-quarter of those in remission reported severe emotional blunting. 8600 Rockville Pike Networks of major depressive disorder: a systematic review. But it can . You wish you were laughing too, but you just dont share that same sense of giddiness at least not anymore. **p<0.01 for difference between the acute and remission phase groups. Klaus F, et al. Data were collected via a self-completed online survey. Depth of distress in quite the same way remains neutral with regard to claims... Persons limited emotional reactivity in an individual a paucity of studies comprehensively investigating symptom... 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