Emotional Constipation...

Well, Miss J. Poo-cell asked me to expand on this concept of "Emotional Constipation". At first glance, you can't help but crack up at the idea. However, take a second look and you will see that there is actually quite a bit behind such a comical term.

So...I am pretty sure we all, at some point, have experienced an inability to fully express our feelings. I remember when I was in treatment how painful that can really be. Typically, "holding it in" emotionally is self-induced. We choose not to express our feelings either out of fear, building too many walls, or pain. My situation, however, was basically drug-induced. The psychiatrist put me on some kind of anti-depressants that completely numbed me out. I was 3 weeks into treatment and should have been experiencing all kinds of emotions! However, I sat there in group unable to cry, unable to genuinely laugh, unable to get angry, etc. The only thing I felt was fear. I feared I would never make it through treatment without feeling some kind of pain. I knew it couldn't be that easy. I begged and begged to be taken off the meds, but they kept stalling, telling me I wasn't "stable" enough to fly solo. Again, I knew I could not fully recover unless I felt the pain of treatment. So, I took myself off the meds and it was the best choice I ever made.

Within days I was crying like Jennie would if she missed Zac Efron's live performance. I was as angry as Joy would be if Edward were killed or burned at the stake. I could laugh like it was the "Nightmare before Elm Street". That is what I call an emotional laxative. The emotions would flow like the waters of Niagara, and were as unpredictable as the attitudes of my Beehives.

Had I never gone off the meds and experienced that real genuine pain, I would never have learned my lesson and never been able to fully recover. If you ask me, Emotional Constipation is toxic and debilitating.

The inability to express our emotions, and release them as they come, eventually causes complete and utter weakness. No one can fully function with so much bottled inside that they can hardly breathe. It's not healthy to deny those emotions and stuff them. We experience them for specific reasons. That's not to say we need to linger or hold onto them...we just need to acknowledge them and then let them go! Keep in mind, we also need to keep a balance in all things. No need to completely wear all of our emotions on our sleeve.

What is necessary is to be HONEST with ourselves. If we are honest from the start, we will learn how to process those emotions. We will no longer fear the pain of vulnerability or fear the reactions of others. When you feel like crying...roll with it! When you feel angry...let it out! When you feel like laughing...do it till you cry! Who wants to live life in denial of something as essential as our God-given emotions?!? NOT ME!!!