Affective Flattening
Stress, anxiety, traumatic experiences, and abuse may consume a person’s emotional energy. This makes a person seems detached or subdued when facing and reacting to certain situations. This condition is referred to as affective flattening. Affective flattening is typical among people facing overwhelming obligations and stressful situations. For example, people may feel numb after dealing with a lot of pain. Affective flattening is normal and will usually pass when the stressors are gone and after correctly processing the emotions. However, chronic and severe affective flattening can be negative symptoms of schizophrenia.
According to experts, patients with schizophrenia still feel emotions but fail to express these emotions in the usual ways. Schizophrenic patients have monotone voices, zero empathy, and reduced facial expressions. The part of their brains that’s responsible for processing emotions malfunctions. So, even after hearing good news, someone with schizophrenia may not even laugh, smile, clap, or show any signs of happiness. The same is true after hearing the saddening or shocking news; patients may not give any reaction at all. Affective flattening is more common among male than female patients. It can result from neurocognitive deficiencies or certain medications linked with schizophrenia.
