From emotional numbness to sudden burnouts: What happens when people suppress emotions for years?

Bottling up feelings for years can significantly impact your mind, body, and relationships in ways that you can never realise.

Recently, in a podcast with Raj Shamani, Bollywood actress Kiara Advani spoke about how motherhood made her realise the importance of the relationship that she needs to have with herself. We live in a world that constantly demands more from us. Work deadlines, family responsibilities, financial pressure, maintaining relationships, social expectations, and the pressure to “keep going” have become a normal part of life.

What happens when we suppress emotions for years? (Unsplash)

In trying to manage everything around us, we often forget the most important relationship of all, the relationship we have with ourselves. And that disconnection slowly starts affecting the quality of our lives. In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Ankita Kaul, Founder of The Unfiltered Ladies (platform founded by wellness coach Ankita Kaul, focusing on women's empowerment, emotional intelligence (EQ), and career growth), decodes signs of emotional suppression.

Why do people suppress emotions?

Ankita highlighted that every single day, people suppress emotions without realising it. We stay silent when something hurts us. We avoid expressing anger because we do not want conflict. We pretend to be okay when we are emotionally exhausted. Sometimes we want to answer back, cry, scream, or simply admit that we are not fine, but instead we bury it deep inside and continue functioning. But emotions do not disappear just because they are ignored.

Emotions do not disappear just because they are ignored. (Pexel)

What happens when we suppress emotions?

The human mind works very similarly to a pressure cooker. Imagine a pressure cooker continuously building steam without ever releasing it through the whistle. For some time, it may appear stable from the outside, but internally, the pressure keeps increasing. Eventually, one day, it bursts. The same thing happens when people suppress emotions for years. The pain does not automatically heal just because time passes. In fact, unexpressed emotions often become heavier with time.

Ankita Kaul said, "People who constantly suppress emotions may start experiencing anxiety, irritability, overthinking, burnout, emotional numbness, anger issues, panic attacks, or even depression.” Many begin self-sabotaging without understanding why. Some lose interest in relationships, while others become emotionally disconnected from themselves. “The body also keeps score of unresolved emotions through headaches, fatigue, poor sleep, digestive issues, or constant stress,” she added.

The biggest danger of emotional suppression is that people become strangers to themselves. They stop asking, “What do I really feel?” or “What do I truly want from life?”

The biggest danger of emotional suppression is that people become strangers to themselves. (Pexel)

How to deal with this?

“Healing begins when we slowly reconnect with ourselves again. Surprisingly, the most basic habits are often the most powerful,” Ankita told HT Lifestyle. Waking up on time, eating a healthy breakfast, moving the body through exercise, surrounding ourselves with healthy and productive people, getting proper sleep, and creating small moments of emotional honesty can transform mental health more than we realise.

“Today, these habits are considered 'too basic' or outdated, but the truth is that they are the foundation of emotional stability. Sometimes healing is not about escaping life. It is about finally listening to yourself after years of silence,” said Kaul.

Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.