What is the difference between emotional suppression and repression?

While both suppression and repression involve blocking undesirable ideas or impulses, repression is an unconscious response that occurs when you have no memory of a traumatic event, even though you were conscious at the time. Suppression occurs when you consciously choose not to remember the details, push the thoughts or memories away, or refuse to acknowledge them.

What happens if you repress your emotions for too long?

If you have repressed emotions or memories, you may be unaware they exist because your brain is protecting you from past traumas. That said, it is possible to repress emotions to the point where they affect your mental health, cause relationship challenges, and diminish your quality of life.

Is repression a trauma response?

Repression is a defense mechanism to traumatic experiences, but it isn't inherently a trauma response. More common trauma responses include fight, flight, freeze, and fawn.

Repression: Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment

frustrated person lying on the floor with head on couch covering their eyes with their hands — Maskot / Getty Images

Repression is a type of defense mechanism where your mind unconsciously represses or blocks out difficult emotions, memories, and thoughts from your conscious mind.

People who have experienced a traumatic event may have repressed memories or emotions—especially since repression can be a protective response to something emotionally or physically painful. Releasing these emotions is also necessary and can be done through therapy.

Repression Symptoms

Repression is a type of emotional regulation. While protective in nature, repression also has several negative consequences that can affect you physically, emotionally, and behaviorally.

Because some people may not know that they have repressed memories, they may be confused by symptoms like nightmares, flashbacks, and intrusive thoughts. They may also experience mood swings, irritability, and even panic attacks with no understanding of the cause. Additional symptoms of repression include:

Anxiety
Depression
Angry outbursts
Behavioral changes
Difficulty talking about feelings
Headaches
Dizziness
Fatigue
Skin conditions
Chronic pain
Abdominal pain
High blood pressure

Why Do You Repress Yourself?

Repression is a hot topic of debate in psychology, and not everyone agrees on its causes or effects. For this reason, several theories exist on why someone can experience repression.

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Supporters of this theory suggest that repression occurs to manage cognitive dissonance—or the discomfort that results when your thoughts and behaviors conflict. Repression reduces cognitive dissonance by blocking or pushing these thoughts out of your awareness.

Trauma Theory

Trauma theory is based on the idea that repression occurs to protect people from traumatic memories that could interfere with their normal functioning. Some experts believe the memories will resurface when a person is ready to deal with them.

Adaptive Forgetting Hypothesis

Some experts believe that repression is an adaptive function that builds resilience and allows people to forget or repress distressing memories. When this occurs, they can focus on current challenges without being weighed down or distracted by past trauma.

False Memories

While some argue that repression can be protective, others are concerned that memories may be distorted over time. People can sometimes confuse real memories with constructed or false ones when exploring repressed memories. Research indicates that people can create false memories based on external factors or when others make suggestions.

Diagnosis

Repression is not listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5-TR), the guidebook that helps mental healthcare providers how to diagnose and treat mental health conditions.

The concept of dissociative amnesia is included in the DSM-5-TR. This condition occurs when someone is unable to recall important biographical information. While you may not get an official diagnosis of repression, a mental health provider may look for specific behaviors or tendencies that lead them to believe you are experiencing repression.

Which Treatments Are Available?

If your mental health provider believes you are experiencing repression, they can recommend treatments to help you process past traumas and teach you to express your emotions more freely.

Common treatments include:

Psychodynamic therapy: This therapy helps you focus on the root cause of your emotional suffering by using self-reflection and self-examination. With the help of a therapist, you may also uncover repressed memories by digging into the unconscious mind.
Emotionally focused therapy (EFT): EFT helps you improve your communication style and any relationships that your repression is affecting. Through treatment, you can understand why you respond the way you do and how to communicate your thoughts and emotions more effectively.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): CBT helps you change negative thought patterns and behaviors to more productive ones. If your therapist believes you have repressed memories, they will help you develop strategies to challenge this way of managing trauma.

How To Prevent Repression

Because repression is an unconscious and involuntary experience, there is no definitive way to prevent it. Some experts argue that repression is not inherently good or bad, so prevention may not be necessary.

Repression sometimes allows you to have a positive attitude without being deterred by your negative experiences. In other situations, repression may negatively affect functioning due to a lack of insight into why you feel or behave the way you do.

The best way to prevent negative consequences from repression is to focus on your ability to express emotions and note if you're experiencing difficulties with communication and relationships. If you are experiencing any mental health concerns that you suspect may be related to repression, talk to your healthcare provider or therapist about your feelings to prevent complications from occurring.

Complications

There is some debate about whether repression can positively or negatively affect people. For this reason, the idea of complications is often subjective. One review found that repression may help improve functioning, with researchers noting that some people with this coping style manage pain better and have a lower risk of depression.

However, research has linked repression to an impaired immune system, so if you tend to get sick frequently, there is a chance that repressed memories may be affecting your physical well-being. Researchers also note that your ability to express your emotions can affect how you heal from illness. Studies show that people who were able to talk about their feelings were more likely to recover from cancer than those who were less expressive.

A Quick Review

Repression is a defense mechanism that occurs when your mind unconsciously blocks out traumatic emotions, memories, and thoughts. Research is mixed on whether repression is good or bad. Some evidence shows that it can have a positive effect on your overall well-being, while other studies find that too much repression can lead to heightened stress and anxiety.

If you suspect that you are dealing with repressed memories, see a mental health provider who can help you work through those thoughts and feelings. They may help you learn more productive ways of adapting to difficult experiences.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between emotional suppression and repression?

While both suppression and repression involve blocking undesirable ideas or impulses, repression is an unconscious response that occurs when you have no memory of a traumatic event, even though you were conscious at the time. Suppression occurs when you consciously choose not to remember the details, push the thoughts or memories away, or refuse to acknowledge them.
What happens if you repress your emotions for too long?

If you have repressed emotions or memories, you may be unaware they exist because your brain is protecting you from past traumas. That said, it is possible to repress emotions to the point where they affect your mental health, cause relationship challenges, and diminish your quality of life.
Is repression a trauma response?

Repression is a defense mechanism to traumatic experiences, but it isn't inherently a trauma response. More common trauma responses include fight, flight, freeze, and fawn.

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