What exactly does “intellectualising one’s emotions” mean and is it good or bad?

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I’ve seen and heard people saying that they are doing it and often they imply it’s not something good. I’ve mostrly seen it in context of therapy and psychology.

From what i understood, this concept is a sort of false defence because it makes you feel worse or act unhealthy. But I fail to understand how it happens and what exactly in it makes it not good. Can someone explain?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Its one of Sigmund Freud’s original defense mechanisms:

>Freud believed that memories have both conscious and unconscious aspects, and that intellectualization allows for the conscious analysis of an event in a way that does not provoke anxiety.[3]

However through updated brain scans we’ve since learned the emotional state arrives first, and any thoughts come afterwards(as a result, not the cause). They don’t go anywhere as they’re not in error or dysfunction to ignore or dismiss, but a warning light to follow to a lacking need(in the case of negative ones). Needs met = positive emotions.

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