Emotional Suppression in Addiction: Sweeping things under the Carpet

What is Emotional Suppression?

Hey Folks! If we ask you to recall a time when you felt an intense emotion, positive or negative, What comes to mind? Maybe you thought of the last time you got happy about something you achieved or received, or the joy of meeting someone you haven\’t met in a while, or a fight you had with your partner, or the time you got really anxious about a meeting. Our memory most of the time remembers such intense experiences because of the emotions attached to them. The more intense the emotion, the more it leaves a mark on you. Am I right? Actually not entirely. While it is true that intense emotions leave a mark on us, it is also true that our self gets threatened by extreme emotions which makes us suppress them. Emotional Suppression means that when we felt a negative emotion, our mind distracted itself instead of processing and letting go of the emotion and buried it in our unconscious mind. We suppress not just the emotion but sometimes the memory attached to the emotion or the thoughts linked with the emotion as well.

Over a period of time, this emotional baggage gets collected and it unconsciously colors our perception of the world and how we deal with it and ourselves. Emotional suppression is deadly and it has innumerable effects on our psyche. We become more prone to depression, anxiety, anger, fear, and our mind becomes conditioned to escape from unpleasant situations. We lose the ability to be mindful, to deal effectively with negativity in real time and just sweep things under the carpet. This also makes us a ticking time bomb, any slight provocation can cause an emotional outburst. Because the system becomes unstable with continued emotional suppression so that trapped emotional energy finds a way to release itself which is usually not a healthy way.

Addiction and Emotional suppression

Addiction is a compulsive need to indulge in substances as a way to escape reality, disguised as either fun, relaxation or a break from monotony. Addicts wish to take breaks from the normal state of mind again and again. It becomes a coping mechanism for difficult emotions and eventually, any stress, anger, pain or negative emotions get more and more suppressed with addiction. Addiction to Drugs and alcohol keeps numbing the person to reality and to their difficult feelings.
The person slowly starts losing the ability to manage difficult emotions. This coping becomes the new norm and the addict reaches out for the substance more and more. Thus emotional suppression and unmanageability go hand in hand with the gradual increase of addictive behavior.

The common emotions suppresed in drug or alcohol addiction are anger, frustration, sadness, loneliness as well as fear and anxiety. They find it harder to not just express their emotions, but also process them. In the long run, emotional suppression happens so automatically that the person is unable to identify or even feel their emotions as they are so buried.

What can be done?

To begin managing emotions, one first has to abstain from their substance in a safe environment, away from their regular triggers. Once the substance starts leaving the body, the detox happens, then a lot of buried emotions may come up-to the surface. There may be mood swings, irritability, unmanageable boredom and frustration.  A safe environment with constant support is needed to facilitate a smooth transition. At Zorbacare Rehabilitation Center, located in Pune, alcohol rehabilitation or drug rehabilitation places a lot of importance on increasing the coping mechanisms of the person in recovery. Till then, the person in addiction commonly has an avoidant coping mechanism, using substance to avoid acknowledging or processing the emotion. Through appropriate, evidence based therapy, one starts gaining insight into their patterns of thought, emotion and behavior that leads them to suppress emotions. Therapies such as Cognitive behavioral therapy, Dialectical behavioral therapy, Mindfulness training are used by our professionals in order to guide individuals to understand and process their emotions and feelings. This builds emotional resilience over time, thus the person doesn\’t become a slave to their feelings. This extends to impulses for substance also, which can be better dealt with if one learns to stop suppressing and starts processing feelings. Our reality is pretty much shaped by how we feel about things and thus, the process of rehabilitating anyone must include inner work surrounding emotions. Being able to watch emotions, without suppression, and without getting carried away in the emotion and letting it dictate what we do, is the hallmark of emotional intelligence.