Beware of Dangers of Holding Emotions
Some people may be accustomed to harboring their emotions and not expressing them outwardly. In fact, being accustomed to keeping everything to yourself and not sharing it with others makes mental and mental burdens increase. Your tendency to hide your thoughts and feelings from being noticed by others may actually create more problems for yourself.
Did you know that pent up negative thoughts and feelings can indirectly affect your physical and mental health?
The danger of harboring emotions
When emotions are not released, negative energy resulting from emotions does not leave the body and will be retained in the body. Negative energy that should be released becomes stored in the body and can interfere with the function of organs, including the brain. Here are some of the dangers of harboring emotions for health:
1. Increase the risk of disease and death
Energy resulting from emotions is energy that is not healthy for the body. The energy from suppressed emotions can cause tumors, hardening of the arteries, stiff joints, and weaken bones, so that these can develop into cancer, weaken the immune system, and make the body susceptible to disease.
Keeping your emotions bottled up can also have a negative impact on your physical and mental health. Research followed for 12 years showed that people who often harbored their feelings were at least 3 times more likely to die prematurely than people who used to express their feelings. Research published in Journal of Psychosomatic Research It found that harboring emotions can increase the risk of dying from heart disease and cancer (Chapman, et al., 2013). This study also supports previous research linking negative emotions, such as anger, anxiety, and depression, with the development of heart disease (Kubzansky and Kawachi, 2000).
People who are accustomed to harboring their emotions will carry negative thoughts in the body that can disturb the hormonal balance. This increases the risk of diseases related to cell damage, such as cancer.
Health risks increase when a person has no way of expressing his feelings. In any case, the researchers warn that the emotions held up in the body and mind can lead to serious physical and mental health problems and even premature death. Some experts suggest that you can express your emotions, especially sad emotions, to maintain your mental health. Getting angry can help reduce the negative effects of stress.
2. Susceptible to inflammation (inflammation)
Several studies have shown a link between the inability to express emotions and susceptibility to inflammation or inflammation. Finnish researchers report that people with a diagnosis of an inability to express emotions, also known as Alexythymia, have higher levels of inflammatory chemicals, such as high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and interleukin (IL-6), which are higher in the body. . CRP is an inflammatory marker for coronary heart disease.
Another study by Middendorp, et al. (2009) in rheumatoid arthritis sufferers found that people who were encouraged to exchange feelings and express emotions had lower blood levels of inflammatory markers than those who harbored feelings for themselves. In 2010 a study conducted on 124 students found that social situations in which people feel judged or rejected increase levels of two pro-inflammatory chemicals, namely interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) which is often found in autoimmune diseases.
The opposite is found in studies showing that happy people have lower levels of inflammatory chemicals. A 2010 study published in Journal of Association for Psychological Science, found that an approach to life with a positive attitude is a strong antidote to stress, pain, and disease.
These studies show that harboring emotions can trigger disease in the body. Inflammatory markers were found to be higher in people who could not express their emotions. Inflammation itself can occur in various diseases, such as heart disease, arthritis, asthma, dementia, osteoporosis, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and some types of cancer. Therefore, people who cannot channel their thoughts and feelings can suffer from various diseases.
What if I want to stop harboring emotions?
Holding on to emotions is not a solution to your problem You need to bring it out and express it to reduce your mental and mental burden. Holding on to emotions for long periods of time can have negative effects on your physical and mental health. Therefore, you must know how to handle your emotions. Here are some ways to deal with emotions:
- Be honest with yourself. Not that you have to express all your feelings all the time, but in many situations you can tell yourself how you really feel. Don’t hide and deny your own feelings.
- Know how you are feeling. Sometimes you don’t know what you are feeling. Identify the feelings you feel for yourself and reflect on what caused them.
- Talk about your feelings with other people. If you are emotional, talk to other people about how you feel and think. This can help calm you down.
- Be an observer. You have to know when you should be able to get your emotions out. Not every time and anywhere you can express your emotions. Sometimes you have to hold it for a while and take it out at the right time. If you can’t hold it, take a deep breath and change your posture. This can help calm you down.
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Hello Health Group does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.