Suppressed Emotions: Why 'Don't Cry' Is Bad Advice

You're used to keeping everything inside. But emotions don't disappear. They just find another way out.

Suppressed emotions are feelings you never allowed yourself to fully experience. You were angry but smiled. You were hurting but said, "I'm fine." You wanted to cry but swallowed your tears. And you think you handled it. But emotions don't dissolve in your stomach. They stay in your body. In your muscles. In your dreams. In reactions you don't control.

Many of us grew up with the rule: emotions are bad. Boys don't cry. Girls don't get angry. Don't throw tantrums. Don't have meltdowns. Don't show weakness. So you learned to hide your feelings behind a wall. You became tough. Calm. Unshakeable. But pressure builds up inside. And sooner or later, it finds its way out. Through illness. Through an outburst. Through depression. Through crying suddenly in a supermarket because you can't choose a yogurt.