06/05/2026
Bottling your emotions is when you hide or push down your stress and emotions instead of expressing them.
This sounds like:
"I'm fine, just tired."
"It's not a big deal; I'll get over it"
"I'm just a little stressed" (when you are more than a little stressed)
"I don't have time to deal with this right now"
“I’ll handle it myself"
It can also look like:
- sleeping more because you are constantly tired and overwhelmed
- being irritable, lashing out at people when you don't mean to
- crying when you don't know why you are upset
- starting to use or increasing use of substances to calm down
- unexplained physical aches, pains, headaches, stomach issues
- not doing the things that used to make you happy
- avoiding people, even those you care about
To stop bottling you have to acknowledge what you are experiencing in some way: in writing, over text, on the phone, talking to a loved one, by drawing. Even acknowledging it to yourself can help. Recognizing that you are stressed and struggling is the first step.
The second step is figuring out what you need to do to address that stress. Do you need sleep? A day off work? Help tackling a task? To address a conflict that you have been ignoring?
The third step is to actually address your stress. And ask for help if you need to! Sometimes all you need is to talk about it with someone. In more severe cases you may need to ask others for help. If you are overwhelmed, address your stressors one at a time to avoid further overwhelming yourself. Stressors can be complicated and take time to unravel, keep at it and even small progress will add up!
Experiencing a multitude of different emotions and feeling overwhelmed can be a common occurrence, so remember not to bottle them up.
