Chapter 1:

Unfinished Business

As you may already know, repressing emotions has always been considered a major no-no among psychologists with degrees. It has reportedly been the cause of stress and in some cases severe mental retardation. Ground breaking research now suggests that keeping our business unfinished might actually help us live longer. Some would say it is what keeps us alive. Lets observe the following cases.

Case 1:

Jackie and Fernando

Fernando never cleaned his pubic hair off the Dove bar in the shower. It was gross and drove Jackie nuts. She couldn’t say anything about it because Fernando was the one who cooked and if she upset him at all he would burn the food. Every morning while taking a shower, Jackie’s blood would boil. She would stare at that hairy soap and imagine all the terrible things she wanted to do to Fernando. One morning while Fernando was at work and Jackie was in the shower, someone broke into their house. The intruder came into the bathroom with a gigantic knife and tried to stab Jackie in the face. She grabbed a bottle of Pert Plus to defend herself with and ended up beating the intruder to death. According to Jackie “I was just so pissed at that nasty bar of soap I became like a superhero or something. And there was no way in Hell I was gonna die before telling Fernando what a disgusting pig he was.”

Case 2:

Lisa and Frank

Lisa and Frank had been married five years. They had a two story well furnished house in the more affordable part of Glendale. They had a poodle, a pool, and two children. Life was what it was and they were both content. One day, Frank was out for a stroll by the pool when he tripped on a rake and fell onto the pool cover. Frank’s weight caused the cover to sink and close in around him. He was quickly going under water. Frank fought frantically for his life and after a long painful struggle was able to reach the edge of the pool and pull himself out. When asked about what went through his mind in those would be last moments, Frank recalls in detail a burning desire to scream at Lisa for leaving the rake out by the pool. He claims that while he loves his life, he would not have fought so hard for it had he not been so angry at Lisa.

Final Thoughts

Case 1 is an example of years of harboring resentment. So far there is no scientific evidence that long term bottling of emotions is a more effective means of life preservation than the short term need to resolve unfinished business as shown in Case 2. However, here at D.I.Y. Psychology, we recommend storing some awful experiences just to be on the safe side.