So, my dear readers, today we will talk about a currently popular, but completely controversial topic - suppression of emotions. And to understand whether it is really possible to suppress an emotion, let’s first define what it is. Let's go. Wikipedia tells us that Emotion is a mental process of medium duration, reflecting a subjective evaluative attitude towards existing or possible situations and the objective world. Simply put, emotion is the reaction of the human psyche to various life situations and the behavior of other people. According to the father of the theory of differential emotions K. Izard, emotion is something that is experienced as a feeling that motivates, organizes and directs perception, thinking and action. Emotions are necessary for human survival and well-being. Numerous studies, including those conducted by Izard, devoted to the issues of human emotional development, show that even in childhood, long before the child begins to understand speech addressed to him, he can already communicate to others about your needs with the help of separate signals, for example, frustration is expressed by anger, and interest by joy. Looking at emotions from the point of view of CBT, we can say that they affect the body, mind and behavior. A specific emotion motivates a person to a specific activity. For example, fear narrows our perception, forcing us to see only a frightening object and only the way to escape from it (to run away/avoid, for example) Where are our emotions born? The limbic system is responsible for emotions. Let's not go deeper, let's just say that this is such a part of the brain. Can we control the functioning of parts of the brain? No, we can’t. Moreover, research convincingly proves to us that emotions are provided by innate neural programs. But, as we grow up, we learn to control our innate emotionality, transforming it to varying degrees. All this suggests that we also cannot control the very occurrence of emotions. Emotions, inherent in us from birth, arise as a response to the external environment or internal factors (thoughts, value judgments, for example). We also cannot control the external environment, and, for that matter, we cannot control the internal one either (just in a minute, someone in this place has an alarm), although we often sin in this way. I mean, attempts and crazy ideas about this. But in the context of anxiety, no one ever talks about suppression, rudely depriving the queen of emotions of attention. But later we will understand why this happens. For now, let’s focus on those emotions, the “suppression” of which is usually transmitted: anger and resentment. Aaron Beck in his book “Prisoners of Hate” writes that people with dysfunctional anger regularly experience cognitive distortions. When we interact with other people, we, to one degree or another, have certain expectations and make demands on both ourselves and others. It is important to recognize the prohibitions, instructions and restrictions that arise in the mind and the associated restrictions, because categorical expectations of something or attempts to force others to behave in a certain way inevitably lead to disappointment and frustration. A. Beck suggests training a more objective approach to assessing your thoughts and beliefs. This is achieved by encouraging critical reflection on one’s interpretations of certain events. The book also describes very well how resentment can develop into hatred if one cultivates a wounded image of oneself, rooting it in one’s consciousness and demanding that one never allow oneself to be treated disrespectfully Albert Ellis, in his book Anger Management, calls anger “the most destructive emotion” and debunks the most popular myth about anger: “if you actively express your anger, you will become less angry.” This myth gives rise to two significant misconceptions: ☝🏼expressing anger means less harm to your health; ✌🏼if you demonstrate your alienation, you will be less angry. In fact, there is ample evidence that constant anger exposes.