Emotions are a normal part of life, and we all experience anger from time to time. But it can be difficult to deal with, particularly when we want to hide our true feelings. We might try to suppress or ignore our anger rather than address it in a healthy way, but what’s actually happening in our brains when we do this?

Learn 10 Healthy Ways To Release Your Anger!

Research suggests that emotional suppression involves actively inhibiting emotions like anger through cognitive control of the amygdala—the area of the brain that controls emotions — as well as other parts of the brain related to emotion regulation. Suppression is thought to require more effort than simply ignoring an emotion because it involves actively preventing yourself from feeling or expressing an emotion, rather than just not paying attention to it.

Studies have found that suppressing emotions requires a lot of cognitive energy and has been linked with poorer performance on cognitive tasks, because so much mental energy must be devoted to suppressing those feelings. In addition, suppressing emotions activates the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (rDLPFC), suggesting that inhibition plays an important role in controlling how we react.

In some cases, individuals may find that they are prone to ruminating on negative experiences and replaying them over and over again in their minds despite trying hard not to think about them. This phenomenon is known as “emotion regulation failure” and appears to involve a disconnect between the amygdala and rDLPFC processes during emotional suppression attempts; when there is a disconnection between these two areas of the brain, greater activation in one area leads to less activation in another which can make it difficult for individuals to stay focused or regulate their thoughts or emotions effectively.

Interestingly, studies have also suggested that hiding your true feelings may actually increase feelings of anger over time due to physiological arousal caused by trying not to feel angry. When people become physiologically aroused from anger or any emotion, their level of arousal stays at that heightened state until something occurs which decreases their level of arousal (e.g., releasing tension through physical activity). If nothing happens which would naturally bring down someone’s level of arousal then they remain in this heightened state which could lead them back into feeling angry if a triggering situation arises again later on.

So, while trying hide your true feelings may help you cope more effectively with certain situations in the short-term, research suggests this strategy can lead you back into feeling angry if no other means are used for reducing your physiological arousal – such as engaging in relaxation techniques like deep breathing or yoga – after experiencing your initial bout of anger. As such it’s important not only recognize our own triggers for getting upset but also develop strategies – conscious & subconscious – which allow us better manage our reactions whenever confronted by those triggers again farther ahead down life’s journey!