Suppressing negative emotions may offer short-term relief for high-intelligence individuals but consistently makes things worse over the long term due to a rebound effect.
Where this was said
At 7:49 · chapter starts 5:20
The bottom of the list belongs to a coping strategy most people know is bad but still practice: burying negative thoughts and emotions. Drew lays out the core finding, the ironic process: when you actively try to suppress a thought, it amplifies. Push the breakup out of your mind and it floods back harder. Research shows almost no benefit for anxiety or depression, and recent meta-analyses confirm that while people with very high working memory and fluid intelligence can pull off short-term suppression — getting through a high-pressure moment — the rebound is worse over time. [1] — Mark Manson "Suppression rebounds harder long-term: Suppressing negative emotions may offer short-term relief for high-intelligence individuals but cons…" 07:49 Mark connects this to generational change: the grandparents' 'just bury it and have a drink' ethos has given way to broader understanding that suppression is a trap. The key insight that sets up the next entry: because everyone now knows not to suppress, many people assume the opposite — expressing every negative emotion — must be the answer. Spoiler: it isn't.
Telling yourself not to think about something guarantees you'll think about it more. Drew Birnie explains the ironic process: suppression amplifies intrusive thoughts and triggers a harder rebound of negative emotion over the long term.
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