WHEN NUMBNESS BECOMES THE NORM
On Habituation, Functioning and the quiet fading of Closeness
Volume 2 of the series "Between the Years - Texts on Orientation"
This book is for people
who are not looking for quick solutions,
but want to understand why certain patterns are so persistent
and why we often remain caught in them longer than we expect.
For those who sense
that something is not right, even though everything looks “normal”.
And for those who want to understand how numbness works –
not just that it exists.
🌫️ What Volume 2 is really about
This second volume is less about individual substances
and more about what works quietly in everyday life:
• why we compare ourselves
• why ambition drives us – and at the same time creates distance
• why pleasure so reliably calms
• why habit is often stronger than any good intention
This book does not look at exceptions or extremes,
but at what has become normal.
„When numbness becomes the norm“ is now available at Amazon.
✨ What this book is not
• ❌ Not a classic guide
• ❌ No methods or exercises
• ❌ No promises or success formulas
• ❌ No psychological explanatory models
🌱 What this book offers instead
• honest, personal observations
• calm, clear language without pressure
• space for recognition and pause
• orientation instead of instruction
• connections instead of explanations
🧠 Themes in this volume
• comparison and inner restlessness
• ambition, performance and functioning
• habit as a biological mechanism
• sugar, alcohol, nicotine, marijuana, distraction
• why pleasure works immediately – and thinking comes later
• why numbness often arises not from distress, but from normality
🕊️ The tone of this book
The chapters combine personal experience
with quiet, unagitated reflection.
Not instructive.
Not explanatory.
But inviting.
Not to forbid something.
Not to replace something.
But to make choice possible again.
📚 Place within the series
When Numbness Becomes the Norm is Volume 2
of the four-part book series Between the Years.
It builds on Volume 1 – The Quiet Drugs of Everyday Life
and deepens the mechanics of numbness in daily life.
The books are designed
to be read one after another –
calmly, without haste, at your own pace.
No guide.
No recipes.
But a clear view of what many have long been going along with.