Each and every one of us suppresses our emotions to a certain extent. It has become socially acceptable to walk around with a bitch face because this way you are not labeled a ‘crybaby’ or someone hysterical. This mostly happens when it comes to men because from very early childhood they have been taught to ‘man up’ and never show their true emotions. Emotions like anger and happiness are completely acceptable but when it comes to sadness, their little heart shuts down and they don’t even bother to think about what is causing this.

Are you one of those people who suppresses your emotions? If you’re not sure then read carefully and do some self-analyzing to see if you truly are, because if this is true for you then suppressing your emotions can actually become something very dangerous for your mental and physical health.

1. Lack of sleep

Those nights are the worst, when you’re just lying there in bed, looking at the ceiling or moving around nervously because your brain is on fire and it won’t let you sleep. There is nothing worse than a lack of sleep. It’s dangerous because this is crippling for all your relationships, for your work and also for your mental and physical health. Sleep is crucial for our immune system.

2. Bad relationships

Of course, suppressing your emotions and trying to hide them from your friends and partner is something that will ruin those relationships. You can’t keep on arguing or being passive-aggressive just because you do not know how to handle your emotions correctly. Instead of hiding away those tears, instead of hiding the fact that you have been hurt to the bone, you are stuck in relationships with people who are taking advantage of you, who aren’t genuine and it’s all because of the fact that you are not being honest about how you feel and that is extremely dangerous.

3. High blood pressure

A study that was conducted at Stanford University showed that suppressing your emotions can actually lead to cardiovascular problems, which leads to high blood pressure. Of course, this does not have happen to every person who suppresses his/her emotions but you might be at high risk.

4. Depression

Hiding your emotions from the people around you usually comes from a deeper problem within. In most cases, a person who is suppressing their emotions thinks that they are not worthy of feeling them, they might have been taught at a very young age that anger, sadness or excessive happiness is something bad and that they should stay away from these emotions. Because of this, people usually develop high-functioning depression, which is very dangerous for the mind and body.

5. You search for escape

Taking into consideration the fact that your emotions are still there, no matter whether you show them or not, you might get into the habit of escaping reality at any moment. You do this by escaping into your head, into your room, into your books, or simply not talking to the people around you at all (it looks like you’re not even able to hear them). By escaping reality, you end up never facing the world around you.

6. Digestive problems

Because of the stress that you’re going through, you will end up getting digestive problems that are most probably leading to excessive weight gain. Many people jump to ‘binge eating’ to ‘fill the hole’ inside them. Most of them are not even aware of the reason why they are doing so. They turn to food as their only salvation.

7. Turning to addictions

The most dangerous of all of the symptoms of suppressed emotions is addictions. Addictions give that moment of satisfaction where you feel whole. You feel whole while you’re taking your addictions in. This includes alcohol and drugs, of course, which do not bring anything good to your body. I have a friend who just tried some drugs one night and the next morning she came up to me, telling me that that was the only happiness she ever felt in her life and that she wanted to always be happy and that was the moment when she turned into a drug addict. Just like that. Overnight. So don’t take your addictions lightly, go find help because things like these truly are dangerous.