Discussion Has anyone else lost the ability to cry

[RoachApproach]

It's been a long time since I've cried. there have been many times where I've felt the need to or that I should be crying but I just can't anymore. all of this is about emotional pain, I haven't really endured much physical pain in a long time, maybe that would make me cry. idk

 

[Good4Nothing]

I haven't cried in almost 20 years.
I recently went through one of the worst things that ever happened to me, but didn't cry. Maybe I'd feel better if I could. But I can't. All my tears have been cried. My heart is just a hardened mass of scar tissue now.

 

[Lilacmoon]

Havent cried in a long time. Maybe I dont deserve the endorphins crying can give you.

 

[mmt]

Yes, I feel it's related to this anhedonia I'm experiencing. I'm totally shut down.

 

[AynoTnTime]

I'm getting there....

I haven't cried in almost 20 years.
I recently went through one of the worst things that ever happened to me, but didn't cry. Maybe I'd feel better if I could. But I can't. All my tears have been cried. My heart is just a hardened mass of scar tissue now.

Me as well, almost

 

[addicted to cutting]

I always want to cry but can't. I don't know why. It makes me wanna self harm more.

 

[Lilacmoon]

I always want to cry but can't. I don't know why. It makes me wanna self harm more.

yeah. sometimes SH is the only way to let it out and pretend to be functional.

 

[grungeCat]

My meds make me unable to express any emotion. I feel sadness and misery in my heart yet I can't let it out. My father thinks I'm tough since he's crying all the time and my eyes are dry all the time. I have cried during my mother burial only because I intentionally didn't take my meds for 3 days... to not feel like mental zombie at least during that day. However I'm so addicted to these I have no power to lay them off and I had to start taking this again. Venlafaxine withdrawal reminds me of opiates - cramps, headaches, vomitting, diarrhea.

 

[Meditation guide]

It's been a long time since I've cried.

I thought I couldnt but I did yesterday just a little. I was so upset about realizing I have another deadly disease and then getting bullied I was surprised a few tears fell. I am so down that for some reason crying seems pointless. I have accepted how terrifying and hopeless everything is mostly.

 

[TimeToBiteTheDust]

I lost the ability to cry and laugh. Both of them.

 

[Wayfaerer]

Right here. Things could literally not get worse for me except getting incarcerated or immobilized.

I lost the ability to cry and laugh. Both of them.

Odd because although I can't cry but I can still laugh. Then again I abuse drugs on a daily basis so that's probably why.

 

[Meditation guide]

There are so many sensitive souls here. Where have you guys been all my life?

I can still laugh sometimes since it's such a basic part of my personality, to be jolly.
coming to this site is the first time in my life I've ever really complained about my situation.

 

[Blueman]

I've completely lost the ability to cry.
I can occasionally laugh.
But it's usually just a feeling of numbness and despair that I experience

 

[Green Destiny]

It's been a long time since I've cried. there have been many times where I've felt the need to or that I should be crying but I just can't anymore. all of this is about emotional pain, I haven't really endured much physical pain in a long time, maybe that would make me cry. idk

Haven't cried in years now. And I honestly hate it.

 

[WhatIsMyLife]

It's called apathy. Usually a sign of severe depression.

 

[vacant_n]

I used to be this way. Up until a few weeks ago, I could count the number of times I cried over the last decade on one hand. Even then, it was mostly just a tightness in my throat and maybe a tear or two. Even if I felt I should cry and wanted to, it felt almost physiologically impossible. I think it was a response to childhood trauma. Then this new wave of depression hit and it's like it broke through whatever that was. All I can do is cry now. I've cried more in the past two months than I did in the entire fifteen years before that.

 

[Done at Fifty]

Yes. I'd say its been about 10 years since I could cry. I read its some sort of melancholy that comes with depression. For me it seems to stem from a survival mechanism to expect things to always go wrong and as such when they do I'm not surprised. I might be a bit angry at life that once again I've been hurt but I'm more likely to just go numb. I suppose that its a side-effect of living in anxiety. Constantly worrying what will go wrong next emotionally prepares me.

 

[Stick]

I'm the opposite. I cry multiple times a day because my emotions are so overwhelming.
I'm so sorry for everyone in this thread, to be locked away from that expression...
I don't know what to say besides I hope you can feel again someday.

 

[Marktheghost]

Yes, I've lost the ability to cry.
I think I'd feel a bit better if I could have a good cry sometimes.

 

[BridgeJumper]

My tears have run dry
I need to feel pretty extreme emotions in order to cry - my ears being destroyed serving me life of pain, my best friend drinking sn - was my only two times I cried during 2019 - 2020
I feel entirely numb, like an emotional equivalent of watching paint dry. I sometimes strain, and grimace, trying to force a tear, but nope. People have asked me am I crying or smiling, because of the weird faces I make. Nothing.
This is is some real bs, cant be happy, cant be sad. The only emotions left are anger and fear.

 

[demuic]

No, I've cried more in the past year and a half (4-6 times) than probably in my whole life. Before I couldn't cry even if it was something that "should've" upset me, like being broken up with for the first time. The amount of despair I have can't be completely contained anymore.

 

[Secrets1]

Yup for me it's the meds yet they don't change the causes, sadness or despair. Now in a neutral state of paralysis watching my world slip away.

 

[fuzattojuliana]

After cry so much I've a limit till can back cry again.

 

[voyager]

Have the same problem. There's a constant sadness underneath, and I managed to cry a little this year but it was no where near a proper cry, and felt almost forced. Just some tears running down my cheek and before I can let go it's over. Weird.

Hadn't had a real cry in decades, but then two years ago I did. Properly, and from the gut. It lasted only a minute but felt so good. Like it used to as a kid. My chest was convulsing and it was like my body was shedding the load. How it came to be I have no idea. Have been suffering from anhedonia and numbness for years, and can't really remember having a cry like that ever since this whole mess began 27 years ago. Two years ago I fantasised a lot, slept terribly like three hours a night, but somehow got in touch with my feelings again for a short while. Have not been able to reproduce it since.

It's at the heart of the issue for me. Not just the crying per se, but the inability to be in touch with one's feelings yet knowing they are there and a that a part of one is locked away and can't be set free. It's a lacklustre substitute for life and pointless.

 

[Lupgevif]

Yes, it has been more than 11 years now.

 

[shadow7891]

no, but I lost the ability to laugh. It's like every time I laugh it feels artificial and as soon as I do laugh reality kicks in immediately and says "you have nothing to laugh about".

 

[Sk1n1M1n]

The last time i cried I was in the hospital in June that was the last time, cried

 

[Natty]

Sometimes a massive wave of nostalgia will hit me and I feel the sensation building that I believe to be the precursor to crying, but it's usually interrupted by a panic or feeling of dread. Feelings of nostalgia seem to be a driving force in my anxiety/depression lately. It's strange.

 

[StateOfMind]

Can't laugh or cry. Alcohol helps to counter this problem on occasions but its not sustainable in the long run in terms of physical health. Another reason to ctb.

 

[Worthless_nobody]

I cry too much. It sucks. I have permanent anhedonia from an ssri and most of my emotions (especially positive ones) are blunted but sadly not crying.