While we often think of suppressing emotions as a psychological issue, it's actually a natural defense mechanism that helps us stay strong in the face of adversity. It's like a protective shield for our feelings and allows us to get through traumatic events or times in our lives without losing it.

Research shows that a significant number of Americans, possibly as much as 30%, have experienced trauma in their lives. Many of these traumas happened during childhood, with more than 60% reporting at least one tough childhood experience, and over 25% experiencing three or more. These early traumas are linked to mental health challenges like anxiety and depression later in life.

Some people, however, seem to move forward in life after severe childhood trauma without displaying any major emotional scars. Their ability to cope and thrive could be attributed, in part, to their ability to repress those painful memories.

In today's world, we're encouraged to express our feelings, and that's valuable. But some events, especially when they're very painful and happen in childhood without enough emotional support, can be overwhelming. Repressing these feelings becomes a way to survive and keep functioning.

When we talk about being "tough" or resilient in the face of extreme stress, it can mean two things.

It can be about suppressing painful emotions and eventually facing these emotions and healing. Or, in some cases, it can mean the opposite: repressing the emotions entirely, never feeling them, never facing them and moving forward.

Both approaches have their place, depending on the circumstances and the individual's needs.

Many resilient people consciously confront their painful emotions caused by stress or trauma every day. This is the ideal way to handle day to day emotions.

In times of extreme stress, anxiety, and trauma, our unconscious mind gets to work without us even knowing. This mental defense mechanism is designed to protect us from overwhelming feelings so we can still function.

Ideally, when the threat to our emotional and physical well-being has passed, we can consciously work on healing from these repressed emotions. But there are obstacles in this process. Many times, we don't even realize the opportunity for healing because we're unaware of the emotions we've repressed.

For most, it's best to face and heal from these emotions, but for others, keeping painful emotions separated through repression is the best way to go.

The choice to continue repressing these emotions or consciously work to heal from them all depends on the trauma and person who experienced it.

Repression can be both helpful and harmful. Carrying the weight of repressed emotions can affect both our physical and emotional well-being.

This often shows up in the form of unexplainable emotional responses and chronic health conditions that seem to come out of nowhere.

For many years, research into the connection between our mind and body has mainly looked at how day-to-day emotional distress, like anger, anxiety, and depression, affects our health. We've used questionnaires to measure these feelings, but unfortunately, this research hasn't had a big impact on how we understand or treat medical conditions.

On the other hand...

there's not much awareness or research about how repressed emotions relate to our health. It's a tough topic to study because we can't easily measure emotions we don't even realize we have.

Surprisingly, the hidden weight of repressed emotions can sometimes affect us more than the emotions we're aware of. We need to explore the role of this hidden burden in causing common medical conditions that we don't fully understand yet. There's evidence suggesting that it plays a significant part in these conditions. We also need to ask whether this new understanding could lead to better ways to heal medically.

For many years, research into the connection between our mind and body has mainly looked at how day-to-day emotional distress, like anger, anxiety, and depression, affects our health. We've used questionnaires to measure these feelings, but unfortunately, this research hasn't had a big impact on how we understand or treat medical conditions.

On the other hand...

there's not much awareness or research about how repressed emotions relate to our health. It's a tough topic to study because we can't easily measure emotions we don't even realize we have.

Surprisingly, the hidden weight of repressed emotions can sometimes affect us more than the emotions we're aware of. We need to explore the role of this hidden burden in causing common medical conditions that we don't fully understand yet. There's evidence suggesting that it plays a significant part in these conditions. We also need to ask whether this new understanding could lead to better ways to heal medically.

Studies have found connections between a repressive way of dealing with emotions and various medical conditions. It is associated with increased blood pressure reactivity and hypertension (Gleiberman L, 2007; King AC, 1990; Rutledge T, 2003; Grossman P, 1997). Some research has also linked coronary heart disease to both repressive coping and tough childhood experiences (Denollet J, 2008, Felitti VJ; 1998; Dong M, 2004). In patients with asthma, emotional defensiveness has been associated with narrowing of the airways (Feldman JM, 2002). Even cancer has been connected to difficult childhood experiences and a repressive way of handling emotions (Felitti VJ, 1998; Jensen MR 1987; Watson M, 1984).

Over the decades of working with hypertension patients, I've worked with patients to solve seemingly unsolvable health conditions. Many of these problems came out of nowhere. The cause could not be diagnosed medically. It wasn't until I started asking questions about their past that I uncovered buried emotions that needed to be dealt with. Many of my patient case studies are outlined in my new book - Hidden Within Us: A Radical New Understanding of the Mind-Body Connection.