If we were to draw on the mediaeval concept of "sin", we might describe "numbing" in terms of the deadly sin of acedia, that is, inertia. Inertia is a laziness of heart that springs from apathy. It is the inability — and not just the unwillingness — to feel the pathos, the suffering and pain, of a world out of joint. To be sure, it is possible to survive with a reduced and constricted sensitivity, but the price to be paid is a profound loss of intensity of feeling, creativity, and vitality, in brief a restricted self. Human beings who have shrunk themselves with apathy suffer from a lack of compassion and grace; and that makes them inhuman, at times even monstrous. Inertia and apathy become part of a vicious circle as they in turn intensify and deepen cynicism, violence and destructiveness
— Geiko Muller-Fahrenholz, God's Spirit