Physical Symptoms of Suppressed Emotions: 9 Signs Your Body is Holding Trauma
If you’ve been feeling “off” lately but can’t pinpoint why, your body might be sending you signals your mind has learned to ignore. Emotional suppression, the act of holding back feelings instead of expressing them, doesn’t just affect your mood. Over time, it can create very real physical symptoms.
Your body and mind are deeply connected. When you silence your emotions, your nervous system stays in a heightened state of stress. Hormones like cortisol stay elevated, muscles stay tense, and your body starts adapting to chronic pressure as its “normal” state.
The problem? Those adaptations come at a cost, showing up as tension, fatigue, pain, and even illness. If you’ve been wondering whether your body might be carrying emotions you haven’t spoken, these nine symptoms are important signs to notice.
1.Tight Shoulders or Jaw for No Reason
What it looks like: Constant tightness in your shoulders, jaw, or neck, even when you’re not physically exerting yourself.
Why it happens: When you suppress emotions, your body often responds with bracing, holding itself in a defensive posture without you realizing it. Over time, this leads to knots, stiffness, and even tension headaches.
What to do: Regular stretching, massage, and body scans can help, but the real work is identifying the emotion beneath the tension and allowing it to move through expression, breathwork, or gentle movement. In addition, distance reiki can help release stored tension in your should or jaw, by addressing the emotional root cause within the body.
2. Gut Issues Like Bloating or IBS
What it looks like: Bloating, nausea, constipation, diarrhea, or IBS-like flare-ups without a clear dietary cause.
Why it happens: Your gut is lined with millions of nerve cells that are directly influenced by stress. When emotions are bottled up, the gut-brain connection gets disrupted, slowing digestion or triggering irritation.
What to do: Support digestion with fiber, hydration, and probiotics, but also notice if certain feelings (like anxiety before a conversation) make your symptoms worse.
3. Tension Headaches After Stress
What it looks like: Dull, pressure-based headaches or tension headaches that seem to appear after stressful situations
Why it happens: Suppressed emotions often lead to jaw clenching, teeth grinding, or shoulder tightness that radiates upward. This physical strain on muscles and blood vessels can trigger recurring headaches.
What to do: Try jaw release exercises, heat packs on your neck, and relaxation techniques like progressive muscle relaxation.
4. Trouble Sleeping (or Waking Tired)
What it looks like: Trouble falling asleep, waking in the middle of the night, or waking up unrefreshed.
Why it happens: Your nervous system doesn’t fully switch into “rest” mode if emotions are stuck in overdrive. Even when you’re tired, your body might stay alert, as if it’s still bracing for something.
What to do: Create a wind-down routine that includes journaling before bed to release thoughts, plus deep breathing to activate the parasympathetic nervous system.
5. Always Tired, Even After Rest
What it looks like: Feeling drained even after a full night’s sleep.
Why it happens: Suppression takes energy. Your brain works overtime to keep emotions out of conscious awareness, and your body is constantly spending resources on physical tension and stress responses.
What to do: Reduce energy drains by practicing emotional honesty in safe spaces, even if that means speaking into a voice note or writing in a journal, or rebuilding trust with yourself, one small moment at a time.
6. Breakouts or Rashes with No Cause
What it looks like: Sudden breakouts, eczema patches, or unexplained rashes.
Why it happens: Stress hormones affect inflammation, which can show up in your skin. Suppressed emotions can keep those hormones elevated, making flare-ups more frequent.
What to do: Support skin health with gentle products and hydration, but also address the stress triggers feeding the flare-ups.
7. Racing Heart or Weird Flutters
What it looks like: A racing heartbeat without exertion, or heart “flutters” during emotional triggers.
Why it happens: Suppressed emotions can cause your body to stay in a fight-or-flight mode, where your heart rate remains elevated even in calm situations.
What to do: Practice slow, extended exhalations to signal safety to your nervous system. If symptoms persist, check in with a healthcare provider to rule out underlying conditions.
8. Can’t Breathe Deep, Always Holding
What it looks like: Feeling like you can’t take a full breath, or breathing high in your chest rather than your belly.
Why it happens: Emotional holding patterns can create physical holding patterns. When your body braces, it limits deep diaphragmatic breathing, keeping oxygen flow lower than optimal, one of the many ways we silence ourselves without realizing it.
What to do: Lay down with one hand on your chest and one on your belly, and practice slow breaths into your belly to retrain your body to breathe fully.
9. Getting Sick Often or Staying Sick
What it looks like: Getting sick more often, or taking longer to recover from illness.
Why it happens: Chronic stress and emotional suppression suppress immune function, leaving you more vulnerable to infections.
What to do: Support immunity with nutrient-dense food, rest, and hydration, but also remember that emotional release is a form of health maintenance, too.
Closing Thoughts
Your body is not working against you, it’s trying to get your attention. These symptoms are often your body’s way of speaking the truth you haven’t yet said out loud. The sooner you listen, the sooner you can begin to release the pressure and restore your energy, clarity, and health.
If you recognize yourself in this list, start with small, safe acts of expression, journaling, voice notes, or speaking with a trusted friend. Over time, these moments of honesty can re-train your body to feel safe enough to let go.
If you want a guided way to reconnect with your body’s signals, explore a distance reiki healing session or even The Listening Room, a space designed to help you hear and honor the emotions your body has been carrying.