Signs of repressed emotions include physical symptoms (chronic tension, fatigue, headaches, digestive issues), behavioral changes (overreacting, irritability, numbing out, passive-aggressiveness, avoidance), and relationship problems (difficulty with intimacy, shutting down during conflict). You might also notice emotional numbness, unexplained mood swings, or feeling intensely upset without knowing why, as feelings get pushed down, leading to issues like anxiety, stress, and difficulty connecting.
Repressed anger can lead to drinking, reckless behavior, or lashing out indirectly either towards yourself or others. In the long term, suppressing feelings can lead to you losing touch with your inner self and struggling not only to identify what you've felt but your value judgments that lead to these inner feelings.
How to Release Repressed Emotions
Are You Emotionally Repressed?
Hips and Lower Back
The hips are known to store deep, unresolved emotions like fear, trauma, or even past relationship pain. This can lead to tightness or discomfort in the lower body. Stress. Lower back pain is often linked to emotional stress or feeling unsupported in life.
The Five Signs encouraged people to ask if they or their loved ones were not feeling themselves, feeling withdrawn, feeling agitated, feeling hopeless or not caring for themselves. A longtime mental health advocate, Broderick discovered the program and introduced it to New Hampshire.
Experiencing sudden warmth, heat waves, or blushing in the body may be another sign of trauma release. Physical sensations are often linked to the body processing past stress or emotional memories. They're another sign that the body is changing as it lets go of stored trauma, such as from difficult memories.
Common examples of repressed emotions include anger, fear, sadness, guilt, and shame. These emotions are typically hidden from the person's conscious awareness but continue influencing thoughts, behaviors, and emotional well-being.
The “90-second rule,” introduced by Harvard neuroscientist Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, reveals that an emotional surge in the body lasts only about 90 seconds—unless we mentally keep it alive.
Characteristics of Emotional Unavailability
Difficulty talking about feelings and emotions. Lack of closeness and emotional intimacy in relationships. Inability to understand and relate to others' feelings. Defensiveness when asked to change or let others in.
Shame is among the most challenging emotions to face, impacting people's self-perception and their ability to connect with others. Shame quietly erodes self-worth, whispering doubts about personal value and pushing people into isolation.
EMDR therapy can be particularly helpful in uncovering and processing suppressed emotions that may be related to traumatic experiences. Often, individuals who have experienced trauma may ignore or numb their emotions as a way of coping with the overwhelming feelings associated with the experience.
It can lead to anxiety issues, stress and poor health
“If you don't find a way to express feelings they will lead to other symptoms, one of which might be anxiety,” says Abse, author of Tell Me the Truth About Love. It can, she says, also lead to depression or addictive coping strategies such as alcoholism.
Studies have shown that emotional suppression can increase stress hormones, weaken the immune system, and contribute to issues like high blood pressure, headaches, and digestive problems.
Examples include pushing away negative thoughts (which come back), distraction with things like video games, TV, music, or even taking a nap. One of the most common thought avoidance strategies that plagues many people is something we are all familiar with – worry.
Love: Love is often regarded as one of the most powerful and positive emotions. It can bring joy, fulfillment, and a sense of connection. The bonds formed through love, whether romantic, platonic, or familial, can have a profound impact on a person's well-being.
The 24-hour rule is a simple yet powerful guideline. When you find yourself upset, frustrated, or otherwise reactive, give yourself a full day to pause before acting. Instead of sending an impulsive email, making a confrontational call, or saying something you might regret, step away.
In summary, emotion dysregulation is found in around 25-45% of children and between 30-70% of adults with ADHD.
But if you have chronic anxiety, irritability, numbness, or emotional overreactions that seem out of proportion to the moment, then this might be your clue. If you notice yourself avoiding deep conversations or feeling disconnected from your own needs, this is another clue that you could have repressed emotions.
When we bury our emotions, we inadvertently keep our stress response in a chronic state of activation. Unresolved emotional turmoil becomes a persistent stressor, and our body remains on high alert. This ongoing stress can lead to a wide range of physical health issues.
Shutting Down: Becoming distant or silent during an emotional conversation. Distracting Themselves: Using work, hobbies, or social media to avoid facing emotions. Avoiding Labels: Refusing to define a relationship to maintain emotional distance.
Some of the signs of unhealed trauma may include:
Trauma Signs and Symptoms
Crying when angry can be linked to past trauma, where the nervous system reacts to triggers. Emotional flooding occurs when stress responses lead to overwhelming feelings. Strategies like mindfulness and therapy can help regulate these emotional reactions.