On the other hand, repressed emotions are never processed. The problem with this is they don't just go away. Instead, they'll likely show up in the future — often in the form of possible psychological or physical symptoms.
General signs you are emotionally repressed
You will find that youL: feel uncomfortable around highly emotional people. secretly think anger and sadness are 'bad' rarely if ever cry or yell.
The effects of suppressed emotions include anxiety, depression, and other stress-related illnesses. Such suppression can lead to alcohol and substance abuse.
But, the feelings often do not go away after the situation has passed. These emotions become emotional information which stays in our bodies as trauma. So, where are these negative emotions in our bodies? Emotional information is stored through “packages” in our organs, tissues, skin, and muscles.
repression, in psychoanalytic theory, the exclusion of distressing memories, thoughts, or feelings from the conscious mind. Often involving sexual or aggressive urges or painful childhood memories, these unwanted mental contents are pushed into the unconscious mind.
Roest-Gyimah explains that common signs of emotional numbness include: a feeling of being disconnected from yourself and others. inability to emotionally connect or relate to those around you. seeking sensations through behaviors that may jeopardize your safety or via self-harming experiences.
People who repress their emotions tend to focus on their physical health and seek physical health solutions for emotional health problems (Abbass, 2005). Just like a physical wound may fester and become infected if left untreated, the accumulation of unaddressed emotions can lead to stress, anxiety, and depression.
Alexithymia is when a person has difficulty experiencing, identifying, and expressing emotions.
For example, a young child is bitten by a dog. They later develop a severe phobia of dogs but have no memory of when or how this fear originated. They have repressed the painful memory of the fearful experience with the dog, so they are unaware of exactly where their fear came from.
Neck Tension = Fear and Repressed Self-Expression
Fear and anxiety are also frequently stored in this area, particularly as a physical response to danger (as the neck is a vulnerable area) or strange environments. Neck muscle tension is also related to trust issues.
Repression occurs when a thought, memory, or feeling is too painful for an individual, so the person unconsciously pushes the information out of consciousness and becomes unaware of its existence.
“In the realm of psychology, repression is generally viewed as a specific psychological defense mechanism wherein the individual unconsciously suppresses thoughts, feelings, or desires that are perceived as unacceptable or undesirable.”
Repressed memory is presently considered largely unsupported by research. Sigmund Freud initially claimed the memories of historical childhood trauma could be repressed, while unconsciously influencing present behavior and emotional responding; he later revised this belief.
Deep tissue massage can often bring about major emotional releases of negative emotions that have been stored in the body for years. Craniosacral massage techniques are also helpful in getting negative emotions to release.
One reason is self-protection. People may think that if they don't feel their emotions, they can't get hurt by them. Other times, people suppress emotions because they think it's what others want them to do. They may have been told not to express certain emotions or that their feelings are invalid.
This is similar to suppression, but repression is done without conscious awareness. Individuals might use repression to become unconscious about traumatic past memories. This is helpful in the short run because it saves the person from the intense negative emotions associated with these memories.
When we don't express ourselves, we repress important parts of who we are and cause ourselves considerable struggle and lasting mental and emotional pain. Our frustration turns to rage. Our isolation turns to depression. Our restlessness turns to panic.