psychology to use (excessive) reasoning and rationalization to block out emotional stress and anxiety associated with painful or traumatic experiences.
in·tel·lec·tu·al·ize intellectualizes intellectualizing intellectualized in BRIT, also use intellectualise If someone intellectualizes a subject or issue, they consider it in an intellectual way, often when this is not appropriate. I tended to mistrust my emotions and intellectualize everything. intellectualise to think or talk about something in a serious, complicated way, especially rather than expressing your feelings