Many of us have returned to pre-pandemic activities and may no longer be fazed by the daily death count.
While the deaths felt like tragedies at first, they have now become common occurrences.
The frequency at which we experience something can lessen our sensitivity to it.
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What Is Desensitization?
Desensitization can occur with anything, including death.
Desensitizationcan be used to treatphobias, fears, or other mental health disorders.
While desensitization can be beneficial for your mental health, it can also be detrimental.
But stopping emotions entirely can result in negative effects.
You may not cry; you may not feel sad or angry.
You may continue with your day as if nothing even happened.
Avoiding the emotions associated with death may make it easier to deal with the constant exposure.
If youre an oncologist nurse, you may be surrounded by dying patients.
If youre in a recovery program, you may lose friends to a drug overdose.
You dont need to inundate yourself with the media if you are already exposed consistently to death.
Treatment for Desensitization
Combatting death desensitization requires therapeutic intervention, says Dr. Bruno.
One common therapeutic intervention uses “regression,” he explains.
This includes creating a therapeutic experience in which desensitized feelings can become re-connected to experiences and circumstances.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)may help.
Eiseman explains, This empirically supported therapy can actually change the pathways of your brain.
You dont, however, want to become obsessed with death either.
If you are constantly thinking about death or have death anxiety, therapy may help.
Grief isnt easy to deal with, but support is available to help you through it.
2016;44(1):75-86. doi:10.1007/s10802-015-9986-x
