What is "acathexis"

n. (context pathology English) The loss of the ability to respond emotionally

n. (psychoanalysis) a lack of cathexis; a condition in which significant objects or memories arouse no emotion in an individual

Acathexis is a psychoanalytic term for a lack of emotional response to significant memories or actual interactions, where such a response would normally be expected.

The term also refers more broadly to a general absence of normal or expected feelings.

Acathexis has been linked to anxiety, bipolar disorder and dementia, while the phenomenon also appears in posttraumatic stress disorder.