“Unexpressed emotions will never die. They are buried alive and will come forth later in uglier ways”
Good weekend psychpracticers! Today's #qotd stokes a very common response to emotional triggers that get us when we least expect it - Emotional Suppression. That's the issue, it occurs sometimes out of our conscious awareness and we might later realise that we've suppressed those strong emotional responses. What seems to be emotionally liberating, actually packs it up for later.
How do I know I've done it?
A strong clue that may suggest you've suppressed your emotional responses, is that you're more impatient and your tolerance for things begin to rescind. Finally, what's most obvious might be passive aggressive responses toward others and situations. Ironically, what you try to hide, tends not to help you resolve those uncomfortable reactions.
Take it from us.
Our 8-Steps to Recovering your Capacity for Self-Reflection
Here's 8-Steps to help you make sense of your emotional experience:
- Notice your emotional triggers.
- Ask yourself what is it that you feel that's touched that sensitive nerve.
- Take a step back.
- Consider the context prior to your emotional response.
- Notice who said what to you or how you might have interpreted those particular circumstances, knowing your own characteristical responses.
- Form a narrative about what you've just experienced in your mind, and consider what sort of pattern can be identified in the process.
- Try to respond more authentically (where possible).
- Be kind to yourself.
What is the psychological mechanism of Projection? How can we understand and manage it?