Why Am I Insensitive To The Suffering Of Others?
Each animal species in groups has the ability to be sensitive to the pain or suffering of its peers. Solidarity is part of their genetic code because in most cases it is a guarantee of the species’ survival. Why is it then that some people are basically insensitive to the suffering of others? How do they become emotionally close to everything outside of them? What makes someone insensitive ?
There are various possible answers to these questions. The causes behind insensitivity range from the existence of serious pathologies to a state of extreme vulnerability. The paths to becoming insensitive are also many, and they include many different manifestations.
In general, insensitivity does not apply to everything. That is, unless it is a severely disabling mental illness, people are not completely insensitive. The degree varies, and so does the object and the circumstances. In other words, you can be completely insensitive to someone. But at the same time, you may be very sensitive to the suffering and pain of others at a particular time. Nevertheless, the situation may reverse.
Causes and manifestations of insensitivity
If you live on a busy street, you are likely to hear noise all the time. Unless, of course, you live in a very isolated house. In addition , if you are not used to it, each of these sounds disturbs you a little. But after a while, however, the exact opposite can happen. You stop paying attention to it. In fact, you may even experience a sense of alertness when there is complete silence. Basically, you become insensitive to noise.
Something similar but not exactly the same thing happens in the world of emotions and emotions. People who have experienced great emotional distress tend to be more empathetic and sensitive to others. But the opposite effect can take place. Especially if the pain has exceeded certain limits or if it occurred within the framework of extreme vulnerability. These people become insensitive.
The disturbing part is that the opposite phenomenon can also occur. This means that people who have not experienced suffering, or only to a limited extent, also become insensitive. They cannot attribute an emotional meaning or value to the suffering of others. Their capacity for empathy is undeveloped, and they show a kind of affective ignorance. This ignorance prevents them from showing solidarity with other people’s suffering or joy. This is because the insensitivity produced does not affect their reaction to negative emotions.
A person who is insensitive to the suffering of others can manifest their insensitivity in various ways. This does not just mean staying indifferent to another state of vulnerability or crying for help. It also includes all behaviors in which another human being is approached as an organism, a tool, or a means without being an end at the same time.
When you are sensitive and insensitive at the same time
The usual thing is that a person is both sensitive and insensitive at the same time. It is also common for phases of insensitivity to occur in people who are normally empathetic and sensitive. There are many factors that combine to make this happen. If someone is experiencing great grief, they probably will not have much emotional energy. They will not be able to care about others or to feel empathy with the suffering of their peers.
Some people really fear suffering. Without being aware of it, they develop strategies, mechanisms or ways to desensitize themselves. This happens, for example, in the case of addiction.
Consuming psychoactive substances raises a wall of insensitivity to the suffering of others. It’s like a bubble that acts as an insulator. Building and nurturing an excessively rigid character is also a strategy for becoming insensitive. In fact, it is a way to take strict control of one’s emotions, so that the individual’s energy holds them in.
To be sensitive to one is to be sensitive to everyone
Erich Fromm confirmed that love and solidarity, when they are real, are also universal. He said that if you love a human being, you also love all of humanity. By deriving an analogy from this postulate, you can say that one thing is impossible. You cannot be sensitive to one person’s suffering without being sensitive to all people’s pain. It usually happens this way, but in different intensities.
Not receiving sensitivity can affect us. Yet the person who is sure to be affected is the one who does not have or manifest sensitivity. The instinctive tendency to solidarity is not a whim of nature. There is information in our genetic code that was installed as a guarantee of survival. Helping and being helped is one of the many strategies used by life – and therefore by us – for it to continue on its own.
