Is it wrong not to feel something when a loved one gets in trouble?

Question

At 4pm, My aunt called me and said that I would have to look after her kids because her and my mum were in trouble, and I joked and said "Yall got a dress wrong?" (They are fashion designers) She said no, and before she hung up, she said something to someone in the background about "Police". I didn't really overthink it because they were already in trouble with a crazy lady who put a case against them, so I thought that might be it.

But it turns out I was deadly wrong. Mum called me an hour ago, explaining that she and my aunt got into a car accident. I didn't feel anything. My voice remained mono-tone as I asked her if they were okay and how it happened. She explained then we hung up.

I kept recalling my reaction, and I felt like such an a hole for it. Because normally, if someone's loved one got into a car accident, you would freak out, you would cry, you would worry, anything. I didn't do any of that, even though I love my mom very dearly, she's everything to me.

So I tried imaging scenarios where a family member dies, but in each one, I don't cry either. I can't imagine it. Even though in my dreams, when I do dream of someone dying, I cry in that dream.

Is that normal?

Posted Dec 30, 2025, 8:57 PM UTC

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