numb

One of the most "insidious" problems, Natalie said, was as the pain increased, ketamine became one of the only ways of numbing it - causing further damage.

“Then we’d part ways for a few hours,” Mr. Smith notes, “one of us in a hyperbaric chamber designed to extend life and the other slamming premium spirits to numb it.”

Relationships falter because videogames get in the way, and life dissolves into a virtual reality that numbs the pain meant to drive our growth.

Ms Bacon was given a local anaesthetic to numb her scalp and skull and had immediate improvement in her fingers on the operating table, allowing her to play the clarinet easily.

They made her feel as if she were “expected to be numb and emotionless,” she said, rather than acknowledging that sadness is sometimes just part of being human.