How We Suppress Emotions: Physical, Mental, and Emotional
Emotions are the language of our inner life. They guide us, reveal our wounds, and connect us deeply with ourselves and others. Yet many of us—often unconsciously—fall into emotional suppression. Suppressing emotions is a survival strategy we learn early in life, but over time it can lead to disconnection, stress, and even physical symptoms.
When clients come to therapy, one of the first things I observe is how easily they access physical, mental, or emotional material. Each person tends to have a primary mode of access:
Some are at ease in their body, vital and fully breathing.
Others are quick to think, analyze, and explain.
Some are deeply in touch with feelings, readily moved to tears, sorrow, or anger.
None of these modes is “better” than the other. But each carries a shadow: the potential to use that very strength as a way of suppressing emotions.
Why Do We Suppress Emotions?
Our culture plays a decisive role in shaping how we hide or repress feelings. Boys are often discouraged from expressing vulnerability, while girls may be allowed more space. More broadly, Western society has long valued the intellect above the body or heart.
We still live under the shadow of René Descartes’ famous dictum “I think, therefore I am.” This post-Cartesian worldview encourages us to prioritize thinking over feeling, leaving many people disconnected from their inner world. The result? A society where mental suppression is normalized, and emotions are often dismissed as weakness.
The Three Pathways of Emotional Suppression
1. Physical Suppression
When emotions are stored in the body, they may show up as:
Shallow or stilted breathing
Tense posture, stiffness, or blocked energy
A lack of vitality or facial expression
Over-sleeping or lethargy
Using alcohol, caffeine, smoking, or drugs to cope
Over-eating, especially comfort foods
These are physical signs of suppressed emotions—the body becomes the container for unprocessed feelings.
2. Mental Suppression
Mental suppression is one of the most common ways we avoid feeling:
Distraction and disconnection: missing the moment
Withdrawing or giving the “cold shoulder”
Harsh inner critic: “I shouldn’t feel this way”
Escaping into daydreams, fantasies, or even excessive meditation
Rationalizing with clichés: “That’s just life”
Staying over-busy with work, TV, or endless tasks
Here, the mind becomes a shield. Instead of processing feelings, we bury them under thoughts.
3. Emotional Suppression
Even emotions themselves can be used as a defense:
Anger masking grief, fear, or shame
Emotional drama—arguments, crises, failures
Scaring ourselves with horror films, reckless driving, or thrill-seeking
Co-dependent relationships that keep deeper feelings out of reach
In this case, emotions are not absent, but they act as a distraction from what truly needs to be felt.
The Effects of Suppressing Emotions
The cost of long-term suppression is high. It can lead to stress, anxiety, depression, tension in relationships, and even physical illness. By learning to notice how we hide our feelings—through body, mind, or reactive emotions—we begin to reclaim our wholeness.
How Therapy Helps Stop Suppressing Emotions
In therapy, gentle questions uncover habitual strategies:
“What do you do with your time?”
“How do you spend your evenings or weekends?”
“What happens in you when your mother visits?”
These inquiries open the door to awareness. Over time, clients reconnect with their breath, body, and true feelings. They begin to see that suppressing emotions was never failure, but adaptation—a way of surviving. And when safety is restored, the body can breathe again, the mind can rest, and the heart can heal.
Final Reflection
If you recognize yourself in these patterns, know this: awareness is the first step. The moment you see how you suppress emotions is the moment you begin to free yourself from them. Therapy offers a safe space to rediscover what was hidden—and to live with authenticity, vitality, and emotional freedom.