Don’t bottle up your emotions, or you may end up experiencing these side effects

To bottle up your emotions means suppressing your innermost feelings. It is when you avoid venting what you really feel. A lot of us bottle up our emotions and pretend they don’t exist, because we have grown up thinking it’s not normal to express problematic feelings like anger. We’ve also been conditioned to believe that strong people don’t cry or that being too happy makes you look ridiculous. No wonder, we prefer keeping our emotions to ourselves.

If you are one of those people who bottles up their emotions, you may be able to relate to this. Expressing your emotions is quite difficult for you or you may fear expressing your emotions, because you believe it can hurt someone’s feelings. But ladies, balance is important when it comes to your emotional health. It is true that not every feeling needs to be shared with everyone, but again not everything needs to be bottled up either. 

Bottled up emotions are dangerous emotions. Here’s how they can affect you:

1. You may feel worried or anxious

Feeling anxious and worried all the time is the most common effect of bottling up emotions. People who bottle up their emotions struggle to express their feelings, that’s why they end up feeling anxious and more prone to not opening up.

2. Expressing emotions may become hard for you

You don’t want to stress others, therefore, you hesitate to share your worries with others. This is not good for your mental health. Do you know that bottling up your emotions may lead to depression and anxiety disorders? Yes, that’s true, keeping your problems to yourself will lead to overthinking and feeling anxious for a long period. 

3. You may end up overreacting to everything

Do you ever find yourself overlooking great matters of concern but choose to overreact and have an outburst over trivial issues? If yes, it is maybe because you’re displacing your anger. That’s because it’s easier to get mad at someone for tiny things than to address the real issue that’s present in your life. 

Also, read: Vent your heart out because it’s more important than you think

4. You may experience frequent headaches

Surprise? Well, repressed emotions can sometimes trigger or aggravate migraines. Prolonged or acute stress can result in chemical changes in the brain that contribute to migraine mechanisms. Instead of thinking about negative thoughts continuously, try to express yourself. 

5. You avoid confrontation

If you find yourself trying to constantly distract yourself from communicating with other people, you’re overlooking the matter and trying to avoid confrontation. Confrontation shouldn’t be such a scary thing. In fact, confronting issues in a healthy way can provide a deeper understanding of people. It allows you to be vulnerable and express your true thoughts and feelings

The more you try to bottle up emotions, the more powerful they become. So, just release them all!