The Worst Option: Understanding Why Suppression Fails
While you may successfully inhibit the outward expression, the internal physiological arousal (heart rate, stress hormones) actually increases. This double-whammy of high effort and zero benefit is why it's deemed the least adaptive strategy.
Emotional Suppression is a response-focused emotion regulation strategy that involves actively inhibiting the outward expression of emotions. Unlike other strategies that work with emotions, suppression attempts to hide or eliminate emotional expression.
While suppression may appear to "work" by hiding emotions from others, research consistently shows it is the least adaptive emotion regulation strategy, creating more problems than it solves.
Suppression requires constant monitoring and inhibition, demanding significant cognitive resources.
Despite the effort, suppression doesn't reduce the emotional experience—it only hides the expression.
Research shows that while suppression may hide outward expression, it actually increases:
Suppressed emotions don't disappear—they accumulate and can lead to emotional outbursts or breakdowns later.
The constant effort to suppress emotions depletes cognitive resources, impairing memory, attention, and decision-making.
Chronic suppression is linked to increased risk of cardiovascular disease, immune system dysfunction, and chronic pain.
Suppression prevents authentic connection and can lead to emotional distance, misunderstandings, and relationship breakdown.
Instead of suppressing emotions, consider these adaptive strategies:
Name the emotion ("I feel anger")—works automatically and provides immediate calming.
Reframe the situation to change its emotional meaning—provides sustainable relief.
Observe emotions without judgment—reduces secondary suffering.
Express emotions in healthy ways (journaling, talking, art)—allows natural processing.