Suppression is a defense mechanism that allows people to cope with distressing mental contents by consciously attempting to keep them out of their conscious awareness. A two-hour free online session on “Psychology behind Suppression” was designed for participants who want to understand more about human behavior, attitudes, communications, and our relationships with the world and each other.
The session was facilitated by Mr. Vijaya Raj Sigdel, Spiritual Coach, Social Worker & International Speaker; which was an impactful session that provided much-needed deeper theoretical and practical insight to explore thought suppression and the intrusiveness of thoughts, with a coping strategy characterized by active efforts to avoid unpleasant mental issues.
The session delivered the following learnings;
What have you learned?
- Suppressed emotion and the real-life examples
- Coping with unidentified emotions
- Effects of suppressions on body
- Life cycle of suppressed emotions on body
- Am I suffering from suppression?
- Possible choices of suppression
- Difference between thoughts and emotions
- How to deal with suppression
Skills you have learned:
- Mindfulness Thought & Emotion Management Skills
- Critical Thinking Skills
- Life Skills
Suppressed Emotion
Mr. Sigdel warmed up the session with the meditation exercise and asked participants to be ready for emotional healing through this session. He provided several examples of how emotional suppression is affecting youths’ mental health. He explained that the victim of a suppressed mind experiences issues such as negative thoughts, fears, sadness, headaches during and after meditation, reliving past emotions, and restlessness. Repressed emotions are similar to unhealed physical wounds. As a result, it is critical to recognize and avoid suppressing emotions.
“If you don’t face suppressed emotions, you’ll stay stuck in getting over it mentality, and it’ll become impossible for you to heal,” Mr. Sigdel said. You may believe the pain has passed you by, but it has only moved from your conscious to your unconscious mind, where it has gained more control over your actions. Your ego is aware of all your suppressed emotions and exploits them. When you choose not to heal them, you give the ego access to your present and future through unloving self-perceptions.
Life cycle of suppressed emotions on the body
According to him, Fight, Flight, and Freeze are the three stress responses. The effects of suppression on the body were then discussed. The suppressed person does not have a smile on his face. He then went on to talk about the life cycle of suppressed emotions and how they are passed down from generation to generation. As a result, the child’s impression varies.
He moved over the various steps that go into the Psychology of Mental Pressure.
Stage 1: Situation or Event triggers
Stage 2: Thought & Feeling Level: BAP Stage & Diversion
Stage 3: Behavioral changes of Masking and Breakdown
He also helped participants identify whether they were suppressing or not suppressing their feelings. Suppressed people are introverts who are image-conscious but not egoistic, who are hurt and cry due to insensitivity, fear of being judged, and good people. According to him, the suppressed mind and the mind with tolerance capacity have distinct characteristics. He also clarified the distinctions between thoughts and feelings.
How to Deal With Suppression
He also provided a few suggestions for dealing with suppressed emotions, using the relevant example as an example.
ABC Model
The ABC model was created by Dr. Albert Ellis, a psychologist and researcher. Its name refers to the components of the model. Here’s what each letter stands for:
A- Adversity or activating event.
B- Your beliefs about the event. It involves both obvious and underlying thoughts about situations, yourself, and others
C- Consequences, which includes your behavioural or emotional response.
It’s assumed that B links to A and C. Additionally, B is considered to be the most important component. That’s because CBT focuses on changing beliefs (B) to create more positive consequences (C).
Your body’s energetic blocks are released as a result of the motion. Move your body whenever it’s difficult to connect with your emotions. Emotion is triggered by movement. Dance, jump, run, and move around. Move your body whenever it’s difficult to connect with your emotions. Feeling negative emotions, accepting them, and then releasing them is the most effective way to get rid of them. You can look at your body to see where the energy is trapped. Tension, sharp pain, muscle twitching, or heaviness are all symptoms. So just be with your feelings for a while, without judging or thinking about them. Simply be present.
Accept the emotions you have been suppressing. Sit down, close your eyes, and take a deep breath in and out. Then scan your body for any unpleasant sensations and focus your attention on them for a few moments. Just be aware of it. Then, in some way, express your emotion and see it with your inner eye. You may have any dark-colored images or see a cloud-like image of a specific color. Try to feel gratitude and love for it, and you will notice that the image becomes dull and fades away. Tolerance’s power will grow as a result of this.
Thus, this is an old technique that still works well. For about 15 minutes, write anything that comes to mind. You might think it’s pointless at first, and that you’re just writing stupid things. However, after a few minutes, you will discover the source of the limiting belief. This is a very effective method. Self-talk to justify and bring the story to a close. This is also very effective.
Following Vijaya sir’s session, Ms. Rewati from Nepal’s Brahma Kumari RajYoga Center led the session. She told the story of the Hare and Tortoise and encouraged the audience to participate. Finally, a final meditation was performed, which energised the audience. There was a round of feedback at the end. The discussion was enlightening.