How do Negative Feelings Affect Us

Updated: 26th March 2019

Too many of us don’t understand the damage our feelings do to us. As children we are able to let go of each feeling as and when it arises. However, as we grow up we are taught by society that it is not appropriate to express these feelings and often we are punished if we do. We begin to be afraid of the people around us and we start to develop and wear masks which hide our true self. The feelings which we feel when we are young are often dismissed by our parents. In this situation, when we feel upset, angry or experience any other emotions, the feeling, which naturally wants to leave, is held down and huge amounts of energy is required to do this. We become masters at burying our feelings.  This occurs because of our parental and social conditioning. It also occurs in every single culture on the planet. There is no one who is immune to this mechanism of emotional suppression. However, what we don’t understand is the damage that this does to us and the reason we don’t is because don’t fully understand the problem. Many experts who are trained in this don’t always work with their own feelings because as a society we value degrees and qualifications rather than true inner work. This means that those that don’t will have a limited understanding of the problem.

Expressing an emotion can harm those around us so what should we do if expression is not the answer? The answer is to release it, to let it go and to do that we must have the perspective that we are responsible for the feelings and not the outside environment.  We must allow the feeling to come up from within us, embrace it totally and then let it go all without being a victim of it. This is a natural process and all of us can do this. There is not a single individual on the planet who has not, at one time or another, let go of their suppressed emotions.

If we keep these feelings suppressed, then they can cause all manner of problems. These buried feelings cause us to see things unclearly. When stuck in the emotion of anger, for instance, we view an angry world. We view the world through the lens of the emotion that we are experiencing in that moment. Emotions also inhibit our ability to fight disease and as has often being pointed out disease is really just DIS-EASE, a state of imbalance. Suppressed emotions and feelings cause us to become tired and to lack energy in all manner of things. The cause disagreements in relationships because often those suppressed feelings are triggered by our partners. Emotional release and letting go cause us to view our relationships with more clarity and with more love. They cause most of the violence around the world because when the emotion can no longer be contained it has to be released. If an individual understands the mechanism of emotional release then he or she can release that emotion in a calm and meditative way. Suppressed emotions are also the cause of all our addictions. Addictions exist to suppress our emotions and this makes complete sense because when we are addicted we are basically running away from those unpleasant feelings. Addiction in this case can mean anything from severe alcoholism to something as mild as picking up your phone because you are bored. Our inability to keep still and to enjoy life just without doing anything is a sign of our suppressed feelings. We find ourself constantly having to do something, anything, just so we don’t have to face these feelings within. This is the main reason the entertainment industry exists. It exists so we don’t have to face those feelings because when we are long that is when they will come up. A truly happy person doesn’t need all these addictions. They can be happy wherever they are and whoever they are with.

If we can gain the courage to face what we have buried and to let it go, then the energy we use to hold it down is given back to us. We become lighter, happier and more loving.  The world becomes a better place.