Painful emotions follow a natural course: they increase in intensity and then gradually subside, and attempting to numb them quickly prevents us from going through this healthy process.

noli's read

This advice is based on the concept of the emotional activation curve, a central principle in clinical psychology and acceptance-based therapies. Research in behavioral psychology, notably work on emotional exposure and emotion regulation (such as Gross and Thompson, meta-analysis on emotional regulation), confirms that experiential avoidance—seeking to suppress or numb an emotion—often has a rebound effect, increasing the intensity of the emotion in the long term. Scientific literature supports the idea that allowing emotions to follow their natural cycle (often compared to a wave) is an adaptive strategy. The claim that emotions do not change instantly, but gradually, is consistent with the neurobiology of the emotional response. There is no notable exaggeration here, as the message is a standard application of mindfulness and cognitive therapy techniques. The approach is solidly anchored in emotional well-being management practices validated by research.

the sources

No named source held this one up — that absence is part of the verdict.