Definition: When someone maintains all surface-level obligations with robotic precision—showing up to work, paying bills, even cracking jokes—while their inner world has fully collapsed. They execute tasks like a sleepwalker, meeting expectations without engagement or hope.
The eerie competence masks total emotional shutdown; colleagues call them “reliable” as their eyes grow vacant. This isn’t resilience—it’s emotional taxidermy, preserving the hollow shell of a person who’s already checked out internally.
Example:
Mark delivered his quarterly report flawlessly, his voice steady and slides perfect, while inside he felt nothing but a crushing, silent void.
Sarah managed birthday cake and small talk at the party, her smile fixed and eyes distant, mechanically fulfilling her role as hostess.