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Sep 5, 2023 · Repression is associated with a multitude of experiences, thoughts, or emotions. Here are a few examples: Traumatic events from childhood: People might unconsciously repress traumatic events, such as accidents, abuse, or losses. Repressed desires: Sometimes, unfulfilled desires and wishes may be repressed if they conflict with societal norms or ...
- Overview
- Why does it happen?
- What kinds of emotions get repressed?
- Can it really lead to physical symptoms?
- How do I know if I have repressed emotions?
- Is it possible to release them?
- The bottom line
Repressed emotions refer to emotions that you unconsciously avoid. These differ from suppressed emotions, which are feelings you purposely avoid because you don’t know exactly how to deal with them.
Say you and your partner have a fight and decide to break up one evening. You still have to meet with an important client at work the next day, so you decide to suppress, or push aside, your feelings until you get home from that meeting.
Suppression can sometimes be a good short-term solution, as long as you make sure to address those emotions sooner rather than later.
Repressed emotions, on the other hand, don’t get a chance to be processed. But that doesn’t mean they simply disappear. Instead, they might show up as a range of psychological or physical symptoms.
Emotional repression often relates to childhood experiences.
Much of what children learn about behavior and communication comes from their primary caregivers.
So, you’ll probably feel pretty comfortable expressing your emotions if your caregivers:
•frequently talked about their feelings
•encouraged you to share how experiences made you feel
•normalized your positive and negative emotional experiences
For the most part, people tend to repress strong emotions, especially those associated with discomfort or other unpleasant experiences.
This includes emotions like:
•anger
•frustration
•sadness
•fear
“Hold on,” you might think. “My emotions don’t make me sick… do they?”
They actually can, in a way.
There’s no evidence to suggest emotions directly cause illness, of course. Sadness can’t give you the flu, and anger doesn’t cause cancer.
But research has linked emotional repression to decreased immune system function. If your immune system doesn’t work properly, you might get sick more frequently and recover slowly.
Repressed emotions can also factor into mental health conditions, such as stress, anxiety, and depression.
These issues often cause physical symptoms, including:
It’s not always easy to recognize when you’re dealing with emotional repression, and there’s no definitive test you can take.
If you do have repressed emotions, however, you might notice a few key signs. These signs might show up in your feelings or your behavior — both toward yourself and other people.
If you have trouble expressing or regulating your emotions, talking to a mental health professional is a good first step.
A therapist can help you explore potential causes of repressed emotions and offer guidance and support as you begin to address these reasons.
Therapy also provides a safe space to:
•work on naming and understanding your feelings
•increase your comfort level around talking about emotions
•learn more helpful methods of emotional regulation
It’s natural to want to avoid feeling bad. Plenty of people feel at least a little afraid of confronting deep, intense emotions, especially those they link to unpleasant or unwanted experiences.
While it may sound a little counterintuitive, learning to embrace those negative feelings can actually help improve emotional well-being over time.
Getting more comfortable with your emotions, even the ones that don’t feel great, can help you navigate the challenges of life more successfully while also improving your relationship with yourself and anyone else you care about.
Crystal Raypole has previously worked as a writer and editor for GoodTherapy. Her fields of interest include Asian languages and literature, Japanese translation, cooking, natural sciences, sex positivity, and mental health. In particular, she’s committed to helping decrease stigma around mental health issues.
- Crystal Raypole
Oct 4, 2023 · Repression is a defense mechanism that causes a person to not acknowledge or consciously feel emotions. Psychoanalysts believe that repressed emotions can affect behavior and mental health. A ...
- Understanding how you relate to your emotions. What is your relationship with your emotions? It is important to take the time to reflect on this because what you think about negative emotions will influence how you feel about them and how you behave and respond to them.
- Educating yourself about emotions. What is the point of having emotions? What are the different positive and negative emotions designed for? The Pixar movie ‘Inside Out’ is a fantastic illustration of this and a fun and gentle introduction to thinking about the function of different emotions in their own right.
- Understanding how emotions show up in your body. To cope with emotions, you need to understand how emotions manifest in your body. Different emotions show up differently in your body, and this varies from person to person.
- Learning the triggers to your emotions. Being in touch with our bodies can help us detect our emotions sooner and identify what may have triggered them.
Repression is a defense mechanism in which people push ... therapy,” in which therapists used dubious techniques to reconstruct ... are often sensory and emotional impressions ...
- Freud believed that repressed material, though unconscious, was still present and could resurface in disturbing forms. As well as a lack of insight...
- Suppression is similar to repression but with one key difference—forgetting is conscious rather than unconscious. Suppression refers to the conscio...
- Repression is often confused with another defense mechanism, denial, in which people refuse to admit to certain unacceptable or unmanageable aspect...
- Sexual repression is when the ability to express sexuality is thwarted, which can lead to feelings of guilt , shame , frustration, and anger. The d...
- Research does not support the existence of repressed traumatic memories that can be recovered. Events of people’s past may sometimes come back to t...
- Memories are not always accurate—they are often sensory and emotional impressions blurred by imagination , belief, ambiguity, and time. For example...
- Research finds that widespread belief in repressed traumatic memories persists among therapists. Between 60 and 89 percent of mental health clinici...
- A large portion of the general public, between 40 and 89 percent, believe that traumatic memories can be repressed and forgotten, and that even an...
- The controversy and confusion surrounding repressed memories in the mental health field has permeated the court system. Many criminal cases have be...
Repression is a psychological defense mechanism that plays a critical role in shaping our mental and emotional landscape. Introduced by Sigmund Freud, repression involves unconsciously blocking unwanted thoughts, memories, and emotions from entering conscious awareness. This article delves into the intricacies of repression, exploring its ...
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Jan 24, 2024 · FAQs. Psychoanalysis is a therapeutic approach and theory, founded by Sigmund Freud, that seeks to explore the unconscious mind to uncover repressed feelings and interpret deep-rooted emotional patterns, often using techniques like dream analysis and free association. The primary assumption of psychoanalysis is the belief that all people ...
