emotional cripple
Sentiment-disabled individual
An emotional cripple is someone unable to handle feelings in healthy ways—their own or others'.
The term suggests damage or underdevelopment that leaves a person incapable of intimacy, empathy, or emotional regulation: Years of neglect turned him into an emotional cripple.
The phrase is harsh and often used critically or in self-deprecation.
- depressiveCausing or feeling dejection
- damaged goodsItems unfit for full price
- walking woundedAmbulatory casualties
- messDisorderly, troublesome condition
- inhibitedHeld back by self-consciousness
impotent · self-sabotage · walled-off · walls up · insecure · trauma · inner child · withdrawal · shame · dependency · fear · vulnerable · melancholy · sensitive · fragile · defensiveness · avoidance · overreaction