Last week, I heard from M.K.Doc Downing who has written many articles about anger and repression.

He said many people know that releasing feelings WORKS, but they don’t know how or why.

According to Doc, there are several things which happen when feelings are repressed:

* Physical or conversion symptoms, such as headaches, stomach aches, neck aches, high blood pressure, etc.

* Emotional symptoms such as nightmares, night sweats, paranoia, anxiety, etc.

* Acting out, such as punching holes in the wall, throwing dishes, domestic abuse, child and elder abuse, getting pregnant, slamming the door, etc.

* Verbal expression of feelings which can be done in two ways — indirectly and directly. The indirect expression of anger works like putting fire out with gasoline. The direct expression of anger is much easier to listen to and tends to bring people together.

M.K. Doc Downing is a licensed marriage and family therapist in California and can be reached at www.MKDocDowning.net