A 2021 study conducted in Italy during the first wave of lockdowns showed that when we regulate or ignore our emotions, we can experience short-term mental and physical reactions as well. “Suppressing your emotions, whether it's anger, sadness, grief or frustration, can lead to physical stress on your body.
Repressed emotions can also factor into mental health conditions, such as stress, anxiety, and depression. These issues often cause physical symptoms, including: muscle tension and pain. nausea and digestive problems.
“Feelings are like ocean waves,” says psychologist Alyson Stone, “they rise, crest and recede, all day long.” We can all relate. But according to brain scientist Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, these waves last just 90 seconds. After that, we're simply re-stimulating our internal circuitry.
Bottling up negative emotions like anxiety and anger can disrupt the normal function of your stress hormones called cortisol. This results in lowered immune function and an increased risk of developing a chronic illness. Not expressing your emotions is also a gateway to developing mental health conditions.
Suppression gets held in the body and creates a host of downstream effects, including anxiety, depression, stress-related illness, all the way to substance abuse and suicide.
Hiding your feelings has a high cost. A study from the University of Texas found that when we avoid our emotions, we're actually making them stronger — this can create serious implications for your body and mind. Bottling up emotions can make people more aggressive,” according to the research.
The need for self-expression is an important part of our lives. 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.
Poor emotional health can weaken your body's immune system. This makes you more likely to get colds and other infections during emotionally difficult times. Also, when you are feeling stressed, anxious, or upset, you may not take care of your health as well as you should.
Sadness is the longest lasting of all emotions taking on average 120 hours to pass. Hatred is the second most enduring emotion followed by joy which lasts an average of 35 hours. Guilt lingers longer than the hot burn of shame; and fear tends to pass fairly quickly compared to anxiety which generally lasts much longer.
In the short term, it can cause pesky problems such as irritability, anxiety, and poor sleep. But over time, repressing your tears can lead to cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension — or even cancer.
Move your body/shake/TRE them out
If sitting or lying down feels too stuck or stagnant by this point in the process, you are fully allowed to stand up, move your body around, and let the emotion move you as it needs to.
Some people find it difficult to cry because of societal pressure or their internalised beliefs about crying. For example, if we believe that crying is embarrassing and childish — or if we're simply scared of being vulnerable — it's only natural that we'll try to stave off our tears.
Research suggests that suppressing emotions often leads to anxiety and panic attacks. Sometimes people hold back their emotions out of fear, and this can then lead them to feel anxious.
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.
Symptoms of emotional detachment
difficulty creating or maintaining personal relationships. a lack of attention, or appearing preoccupied when around others. difficulty being loving or affectionate with a family member. avoiding people, activities, or places because they're associated with past trauma.
dissimulate. verb. formal to hide your real thoughts, feelings, or intentions.
Ultimately, though, we tend to bottle up our feelings for one key reason: it seems easier and safer to do so. “The reasons we sometimes—or most times—bottle up our emotions can vary, but they all seem to stem from a fear of vulnerability. Out of this fear, we react through self-protective emotional measures,” says Dr.
Anger, frustration, fear, guilt, bitterness, resentment, and sadness negatively impact you. Toxic emotions cause you mental and physical harm. Anger leads you to do or say things you'll regret later. Frustration causes you to consider giving up.
After practicing TRE® people often use the words 'grounded', 'relaxed' and 'calmer' to describe their feelings. After a period of several months people have reported relief from illnesses such as Arthritis, Fibromyalgia, Eczema and IBS.
Result. Individuals who reported to fully agree on suppressing their emotions had nearly five times higher risk of developing dementia/AD as compared to those who fully disagreed on suppressing their emotions (Hazard ratio [HR] 4.93, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] 1.11–21.93).
When a person is feeling emotional, the cerebrum (the front part of the brain) registers that emotion and a hormone is triggered causing emotional type tears to form.
Repressed emotions are feelings you unconsciously avoid. These are different from feelings you actively push aside because they overwhelm you. Repressed emotions can lead to health problems over time.