Emotional Suppression; Causes and Consequences

Emotional Suppression:

Causes & Consequences

Copyright © 2008 

Freud introduced the concept of defensive emotional repression as it relates to unconscious avoidance of invidious emotions. His ongoing discussions of defensiveness shifted the meaning, frustrating subsequent researchers’ attempts to fathom what he meant at any given time by conscious or unconscious defensiveness (Erdelyi, 1990). Research since Freud’s time has been consistently plagued by this definitional lack of consensus.               

The postulate that defensiveness may cause disease has been a relevant one since Freud. The era of research in psychosomatic illness was ushered in with the proposition that the blocking of certain expressions or experiences caused illness. Chronic high blood pressure, thought to be caused by the withholding of the expression of rage, (Alexander, 1939, 1950), is but one example.

  Whatever Freud’s semantic intent, there appears to be nothing inherently redundant between the two theoretical approaches, and it is possible that conscious and unconscious blocking of emotion could lead to disease (Davidson, 1996). 

The primary source of disagreement among researchers has been reliance on self: reporting vs. expert reporting of the occurrences of inhibition. The early investigators of psychosomatic theories were seemingly relying on Freud’s earlier definition (unconscious blocking) as a construct for their research (Dunbar, 1935; Jildea, 1949).

  It seemed apparent that this interpretation precluded expert reporting of inhibition since successful inhibition of experienced emotion theoretically could not be discerned by even the most highly accomplished expert. There has been much evidence to refine this theory (see Ekman, P.: Expression and Nature of Emotion, 1984) in subsequent years. 

 Wilhelm Reich, an Austrian psychiatrist, conducted investigations into the correlation between emotional make up and physical musculature. He generally found that his patients with repressed emotions evidenced this in their body structures through tightened, contracted muscles. Various emotions which were “held in” related to specific muscles. If the tensioning of these muscles was not released by other means, the muscular rigidity set in place, and, with continued suppressive behavior, became permanent. Reich termed this phenomena “muscle armoring”, an analogy to the metal armor of a medieval knight. Reich saw the contractions of muscles as an “emotional armor” protection created by mind and body, caused from emotional defensiveness.

  Emotion regulation study has its roots in the psychoanalytic and stress and coping traditions. Holistic therapy, as well as cognitive behavioral science, addresses the needs of emotionally blocked people. Everything from menstrual bleeding to mental illness has been proposed to have affective emotional components.

  Human beings wouldn’t function, as we understand it, without emotion. Modern emotion theories emphasize the adaptive value of emotions. Though it is common to hear the intrinsic value of being “in touch” with one’s emotions, emotions are not always helpful.  However, research universally agrees that withholding emotions leads to unhealthy patterns or behaviors, including stress and depression. It has also been linked with short-term memory loss.

  Researchers studied groups of females viewing pictures of men with mild to extremely severe physical injuries (Richards, Gross 1999). The women were instructed to show no outward sign of response to the images. A second group was allowed to wince or gasp as they felt the need, showing all normal outward emotional responses to the pictures, such as revulsion and horror. After administration of a memory-recall test to all participants, the investigators found those who showed their emotions scored higher than those who consciously blocked emotions. 

The researchers speculated that hiding emotion triggers an attentional shift in the brain, which directs neurological resources away from the memory-processing center. They insisted that additional study will be required to confirm this finding. 

Scientists who examined the brains of Vietnam veterans — in isolation or traumatized - found that the hippocampus, the area responsible for memory and learning, was greatly reduced in size. It is believed when the victim suffers a traumatic experience, or is emotionally isolated, an excess of a stress hormone, glucocorticoid, is produced. This hormone destroys brain cells. War victims and rape assault victims alike score 40% lower on memory tests than comparison groups. 

Former inmates of the prisons in former East Germany are plagued by health problems due to the systematic emotional repression carried out by the Stasi (secret State Security police) during the l98O’s. 

The physical, psychological and physiological costs of withholding emotion are today a common subject of research at the professional and academic level. Studies have led researchers to suggest that suppression of emotion contributes to ill-health in many forms. In fact, how we handle our emotions can affect our health in so many ways, it could be difficult to find an illness that couldn’t be emotionally related or stress induced. 

The repression of feelings and outward display of affection may have much to do with the concept of machismo so prevalent in various Anglo-Saxon cultures, especially America, with its emphasis on intellect and the individual. Since repressed feelings start in early childhood, especially in males, unhealthy behavior would seem to have a chance to set in early. An unnatural focus on independence rather that interdependence keeps us at arms length from each other. A fringe element seeks to remain isolated from society and tends to blame its ills on immigrants. America is harvesting what it has sown regarding societal interpersonal relations. 

Certainly there is much evidence of repressed emotion causing upheavals in the mind and body with anorexia and bulimia, primarily in females. There is general agreement that insistence in modern culture that women be thin, and fit the western depiction of attractive, contributes to these disorders. The negative self-image resulting from the belief that they must lose weight at all costs can lead to bulimia nervosa (alternating cycles of starving and binging). Bulimia can lead to anorexia nervosa (person starves to death because they perceive themselves to be too fat). It must be stressed there are other factors believed to be attributed to these disorders, such as heredity in the case of bulimia. Statistics in 1994 indicated that 9000 people admitted to the hospital were diagnosed with bulimia and 8000 with anorexia. The prevalence of these disorders is on the rise in 8-11 year old girls. Children who are denied emotional expression can manifest many developmental disadvantages. 

It seems likely, given the obvious connections between emotions and physical and psychological health, that clinical procedures and holistic practices should adapt to the growing core of knowledge to foster emotional healing and adaptive emotional behavior. There are many holistic methods in practice all over the world. Australia and the United Kingdom are prime examples, where Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is popular. Emotions Anonymous, based in St. Paul, MN, has over 1200 chapters in 39 countries. Although they are not a medical or psychiatric organization, they claim to work miracles in the lives of those who suffer from emotional problems.