If you feel empty… but you still function every day — this isn’t normal stress. This is what happens when you grow up in American culture where worth is tied to output. You learned to stay productive even when your emotional system is overloaded. So you don’t collapse. You disconnect. That numb, flat feeling isn’t weakness. It’s your nervous system conserving energy.

Young Americans today spend 70 percent less time attending or hosting parties than they did at the beginning of the 21st century. Why?