How Repressed Emotions Make Us Sick



The most curious and hazardous feature of the way we're built lies in the difficulty we have registering what we actually feel. Our vast and strange minds get filled with thoughts that go unsifted and with feelings we don't have the courage to look at. We remain unconscious – always – because we are resistant to ideas that threaten our sense of calm, our self-image and our gratifying illusions about who we are.



We surely can't be angry because we're kind people who couldn't feel negatively about a beloved elderly relative. Or we can't be sad at not being invited to the party because we don't care about trivial, social matters. And it isn't possible that we are envious because we aren't people to covet others' advantages.



There's a part of us that wants the truth, however bitter it might be; a minor part, but a notoriously insistent and ingenious part that won't leave us in peace until its case has been heard. It will, in order to stir us from our reverie, give us all manner of problems – breakdowns, illnesses, twitches, compulsions – in the hope of letting us know that there is something we would benefit from reckoning with.



If our intellect won't look at our anger, the feeling may be sent to dwell in our lower back. If our anxiety isn't being dealt with psychologically, it may be relegated to our gut. Romantic frustration that is denied may – literally – begin to wreck our hearts. Our unfelt feelings end up as back pain, constipation, insomnia, migraines and arrhythmias.



In order to spare our bodies some of their mute agonies, we should submit them to a curious sounding exercise. With our eyes closed, probably while we are lying in bed, we should pass over our different organs and zones and ask: If this could speak, what might it want to tell me? What might the heart ask for, the legs, the shoulders, the stomach?



Our minds are probably better able to think of answers than we might presume. It could be surprisingly clear – once we ask the question – that our shoulders are desperate for the relationship to end; that our stomachs want us to take on less responsibility; that our hearts want a chance to say sorry; that our ribcage has had enough of pretending it is happy and that our lungs need an opportunity to scream.



Many of our bodily ailments are ultimately mute forms of revenge for all the thoughts and feelings we have so carefully been refusing to entertain. We will feel so much better in our bodies once we have repatriated our concerns to our minds; once we have reversed the process of forgetting and dared to see and endure what we have been in flight from for too long.



词汇表

repressed [rɪ'prest]（情感）被压抑的，被抑制的

hazardous [ˈhæzədəz] 危险的，冒险的

register [ˈredʒɪstə(r)] 意识到，注意到

unsifted [ʌn'sɪftɪd] 未经筛选的，未经仔细检查过的

unconscious [ʌnˈkɒnʃəs] 无意识的，未察觉的

gratifying illusion [ˈɡrætɪˌfaɪɪŋ][ɪˈluːʒ(ə)n] 美好的幻想，令人满足的假象

beloved [bɪ'lʌvɪd] 心爱的，深爱的

trivial ['trɪviəl] 不重要的，琐碎的，微不足道的

covet ['kʌvət] 垂涎，觊觎，贪图

minor [ˈmaɪnə(r)] 轻微的，小的，次要的

notoriously [nəʊ'tɔ:rɪəslɪ] 非常，极其；臭名昭著地

insistent [ɪn'sɪstənt] 执着的，坚决的，坚持的

ingenious [ɪnˈdʒiːniəs] 机智的，巧妙的，有心计的

stir [stɜː(r)] 唤醒，使觉醒，使摆脱

reverie ['revəri] 幻想，梦想，白日梦

breakdown [ˈbreɪkˌdaʊn] 精神崩溃，神经失常

twitch [twɪtʃ] 抽搐，痉挛

compulsion [kəm'pʌlʃ(ə)n] 强迫行为，强迫症

reckon with ['rekən] 认真对付，处理，解决

intellect [ˈɪntəlekt] 理智，智力，理解力

dwell [dwel] 居住，栖身，存在于

relegate  [ˈreləɡeɪt] 转移，移交，降级

gut [ɡʌt] 肠道，内脏

wreck [rek] 破坏，毁掉，损害

constipation [ˌkɒnstɪˈpeɪʃ(ə)n] 便秘

insomnia [ɪnˈsɒmniə] 失眠

migraine [ˈmiːɡreɪn] 偏头痛

arrhythmia [ə'rɪθmɪə] 心律不齐，心律失常

mute agony ['æɡəni] 无声的折磨

submit (to) [səb'mɪt] 使经受，使受到；顺从

presume [prɪˈzjuːm] 设想，假设，以为

ribcage ['rɪbkeɪdʒ] 胸廓，胸腔

bodily ailment [ˈbɒdɪli]['eɪlmənt] 身体疾病，身体不适

revenge [rɪ'vendʒ] 报复，报仇

entertain [ˌentə(r)ˈteɪn] 接受，抱有，怀着（想法、疑问等）

repatriate [ˌriːˈpætrieɪt] 遣返，调回（本国）

reverse [rɪˈvɜː(r)s] 扭转，彻底改变，推翻

in flight from 逃开，逃避



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