Episode 8: Why Can’t I Cry Anymore?
April 16, 2026
In this episode of Dear Vernon, Eric Johnson and Laura McKowen respond to a question that doesn’t get talked about enough:
What if you get sober… and you still can’t feel anything?
The listener who wrote in shared that they hadn’t cried in years — not while drinking, and not in the months after stopping. No big emotional release. No tears. Just… nothing.
Eric and Laura both know that feeling.
They talk about:
how alcohol can numb your emotions for a long time — even after you stop
what it means to be in a kind of “freeze” or shutdown state
why some emotions show up before others (and why it’s not usually sadness first)
how anger, fear, and shame can block access to deeper feelings
and why your body might not be ready to go there yet
Laura shares about her own experience with not being able to cry, both in early sobriety and while being on antidepressants for many years, and what it’s been like to slowly feel things come back online.
Eric talks about how long it took for him to get there too, and how emotions didn’t come back all at once, they showed up in layers.
If the show resonates, please leave a review and share it with someone who needs it.🎧 Listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast player.
If the show resonates, please leave a review and share it with someone who needs it.
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