Concealing emotions is also a good thing

Contrary to popular beliefs about what is normal or healthy, a new study finds that not expressing thoughts and emotions after experiencing a traumatic event, for example like a school shootout or terrorist attack, is also a good thing.

According to Dr., psychologist Mark Seery, University of Buffalo, lead author of a project published in the June issue of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, actually people who choose don't express their feelings later. an event may be better than those who talk about their feelings.

The work examines the mental and physical effects of traumas in people who experience tragedies but do not directly lose friends and relatives. The work focused on reacting people to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, but the results could be generalized to include the reactions of other delicate injuries.

This finding has important applications in the hope of how people should respond to a shock that affects both the community or even the nation.

Seery said the results should not be interpreted in the sense: expressing feelings of thinking is more harmful or if anyone wants to express their feelings, they should not do so. 'It is important to remember that not everyone is dealing with events in the same way, and in the immediate consequence of a collective shock, not wanting to express emotional thoughts is perfectly healthy. strong.'

Seery pointed out shortly after the tragedy last year at Virginia Technical University, there are many psychologists appearing on the media describing the importance of making all students express their thoughts. .'This perfectly illustrates the hypothesis in popular culture, and even in health care, is that people need to confide in a collective shock.'

'Instead, we should tell people that there's nothing wrong with them if they don't want to express their feelings after a collective shock. In fact, they can pass completely successfully and, according to our research, may be better than those who want to express emotions. '

Using large national figures, Seery and colleagues examined people's reactions to the September 11 terrorist attacks, which began immediately after the event and continued for the next two years. In an online survey, participants were given the opportunity to voice their thoughts and feelings on 9/11 and a few days later.

Researchers then compared those who expressed themselves to those who kept them private.

If the hypothesis of the need to be expressed is correct - that does not show emotions that lead to harmful inhibition or other conditions - those who choose not to express may be subject to mental health symptoms and Physical harm over time.

'However, we find exactly the opposite: those who choose not to express are often better off than those who choose to express.'

Moreover, when the researchers focused on those who chose to express, and examined the long-term response, they found a similar pattern.

"People who express a lot are often not as good as those who express less. We give many explanations in the second analysis, but nothing explains this effect."