desensitising
Making less reactive
Desensitising is the British spelling of desensitizing—reducing sensitivity or responsiveness to something.
In psychology, desensitising treats phobias through gradual exposure: The therapy involved desensitising her to spiders.
More broadly, it describes numbing emotional reactions: Violent media risks desensitising children to real suffering.
The process can be deliberate or incidental.
Sensation-blocking substance
- numbingCausing loss of sensation
- lidocaineTopical numbing medication
- topicalCurrently relevant or newsworthy
- nerveSignal-carrying body fiber
injection · gel · cream · dental · pain · local · procedure · benzocaine
Curative mental treatment
- exposureState of being unprotected
- traumaLasting psychological wound
- phobiaPersistent irrational dread
- anxietyPersistent apprehensive distress
EMDR · habituation · triggers · coping · numbness · emotional · counselling · systematic
Disease treatment via body's defenses
- shotsSmall poured drinks
- allergensImmune reaction triggers
- pollenFloral reproductive grains
- histamineAllergy-response compound
tolerance · gradual · injections · sublingual · drops · dust · mites · reactions
Information distribution channels
- violenceHarmful physical force
- normalisationMaking something standard
- apathyAbsence of feeling
- exposureState of being unprotected
compassion · fatigue · news · imagery · indifference · overexposure · callousness · detachment
anaesthetic
Sensation-blocking substance
- numbingCausing loss of sensation
- lidocaineTopical numbing medication
- topicalCurrently relevant or newsworthy
nerve · injection · gel · cream · dental · pain · local · procedure · benzocaine · spray
therapy
Curative mental treatment
- exposureState of being unprotected
- traumaLasting psychological wound
- phobiaPersistent irrational dread
anxiety · EMDR · habituation · triggers · coping · numbness · emotional · counselling · systematic · gradual
immunotherapy
Disease treatment via body's defenses
histamine · tolerance · gradual · injections · sublingual · drops · dust · mites · reactions · antibodies
media
Information distribution channels
- violenceHarmful physical force
- normalisationMaking something standard
- apathyAbsence of feeling
exposure · compassion · fatigue · news · imagery · indifference · overexposure · callousness · detachment · shocking
desensitisingsensitising
Making susceptible to stimuli
sensitizing · sensitise · sensitize · stimulating · activating
sense, sensitive, sensation, sensible, sensitivity, senseless, insensitive, consensus, sensual