So... you can eventually learn to shield yourself. It seems like you learn this when you hit that point in life where you honestly can't handle one more thing on your plate. That's how it worked for me. I don't know how I learned to do it but it is something I can turn on and off now without really knowing. It's still mildly there under the surface but if life is overwhelming for some reason I don't pick up on things. When I can handle something else I pick up on things.
I wonder if when you fully commit to self-care it naturally happens.
I asked this very question last year. I wondered if it were possible. I wish I could tell you how it happened. I think I just had so much I "turned off".
This seems to be an ever-growing process...
BTW, I'm glad to see you post on this. I've questioned it but I'm hesitant to write about it because for some reason I worry about what others will think when it comes to this topic... Nothing else, just this. Maybe it's because I don't entirely know what to think about it, or know what I all believe or buy into when it comes to this...