It seems that some emotions have the right to exist and others must be hidden. Sometimes it is fear that is rejected, sometimes it is anger, sometimes it is sadness or joy. From the impact they have on the outside, as children, we learn to accept or filter our emotions, giving some the right to exist and be manifested, while others, not pleasant, are repressed and frozen or replaced by accepted and encouraged emotions. . In this Psychology-Online article, we will see What are repressed emotions, why are they kept and how to release them.
What are repressed emotions?
Repress feelings That they cause harm does not mean making them disappear; in fact, generally They get stronger and bigger, because of all the pressure it takes to keep them hidden. Not paying attention to the most difficult emotions or trying to distract yourself from feeling them does not make them go away.
The psychoanalyst Winnicot has coined the expression self-containment, which means facing the most painful or difficult emotions alone, that is, the opposite attitude of asking for help. Therefore, people who indulge are those who have given up, or have never begun, to address the environment around them in case of discomfort. The result is the adoption of an attitude of impassiveness, what could be called “playing a bad hand well,” or continuing “straight down your own path.”
What are the repressed emotions?
Every emotion is fundamental for our safety and well-being, they are all good and we need them. But we are accustomed to considering some emotions as negative, not only because they disturb our stillness, but also because society has attributed a moral value to them that marks them as reprehensible. This is the case of:
This cultural process has damaged us a lot: disown or repress anger or aggression Without finding other escape routes, for example, it has generated increasingly frequent, totally irrational explosions of violence. On the contrary, the attribution of an absolutely positive value to joy and serenity made them become the only emotions that we wanted to experience, feeding an unrealistic expectation. In this article we talk specifically about.
Symptoms of repressed emotions
In ancient medicine, organs were considered a place of emotions and influenced by them, but the current psychosomatic approach reevaluates this conception, recognizing emotions as a crucial role in our health condition and in the origin of disorders. The relationship between emotions and the body’s organs is partly physiological and partly symbolic:
- He intestine is upset due to fear and anxiety, one of the organs most related to emotions.
- The heart is the metronome of our moods, since emotions alter the rhythm of the heartbeat and can affect blood pressure.
- He stomachache It points out undigested emotions, since nausea and burning are often the reflection of our moods towards people and situations that we cannot swallow.
- Other symptoms are, as we said, outbursts of anger or acute emotional imbalances.
- Another symptom of repressed emotions is not being aware of what they feel these emotions and see them as negative. For example, believing that one never gets angry or never feels anger.
Consequences of repressed emotions
Repressed emotions can erase all the pleasures and joys of life: when the world of emotions is not shared, one can feel loneliness and fear, because unshared painful feelings tend to grow. Repressed emotions reappear in the form of neurotic symptoms, physical illnesses or compulsive behaviors, causing suffering to themselves and often to others as well. It’s like the principle of physics that states that energy can never be destroyed, only transformed.
Alexander Lowen, father of bioenergy, has often stated in his works that all strongly retained emotions, not adequately expressed, can become the object of somatization. Here we explain.
In other words, repressed, retained, unprocessed feelings and emotions can sometimes be expressed, indirectly, through the body in the form of discomfort and physical pain. Forced anger, withheld pain, withheld fear, unexpressed joy, unshown feelings, often can cause physical discomfort until creating true biochemical modifications within the organism. Retaining emotions is undoubtedly one of the highest sources of stress for the body. Some of the common related disorders are:
How to release repressed emotions
Let’s look at some keys to releasing repressed emotions:
- Let’s listen to each other, precisely paying more attention to body signals which the physicist tries, all too often in vain, to send us. Do we perceive a tension within us? A murmur in the background? A chronic dissatisfaction?
- Once we receive the message, we try to read it, understand your source: What part of us is trying with great effort to stay afloat? The more we get used to staying, the more difficult it will be, initially, to start this process.
- To educate and educate ourselves in the expression of emotions and feelings, it is necessary, first of all, that all of them are welcomed as natural expressionsprecisely because they all have their own place within the person.
- Welcome means accept with serenity, naturally, without reproach or belittle or mock, and to accept naturally it is necessary to take time and think about what is happening.
- When you have repressed feelings, you can ask someone for help that can understand us: we should not always endure, alone.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
If you want to read more articles similar to Repressed emotions: what they are, why they are kept and how to release themwe recommend that you enter our category.
Bibliography
- Caprioglio, V. (2020). Practical course to stop managing emotions. Milan: Edizioni Riza.
- Cerato, M. (2003). Emotions and sentiments. Heal the heart and the mind. Cantalupa: Effatà Editrice.
- RIZA (2021). Emozioni non espresse diventano malattie. Retrieved from: https://www.riza.it/psicologia/psicosomatica/6729/le-emozioni-non-espresse-diventano-malattie.html
- Sunderland, M. (2005). Aiutare i babies… to release the emotions. Psychoeducative activity with the support of a family. Trent: Erickson.