Supressed Joy?

Hey guys!
Weird topic: suppressed joy. Often I feel that I can't share my feelings of joy and happiness with my family. I feel happy when I see my parents, but I repress my feelings and end up with this tightness in my chest that is just wretched. I never used to do this but started doing it recently. Its horrendous. It makes it hard to think straight or go to sleep at night. After I do it I can't seem to unrepress the feeling in my chest. Advice? tips?
-Lydia

Do you have any idea WHY you supress your feelings of joy? Like when you see your parents -- why do you supress THOSE feelings? Do you feel that your parents will make fun of you or something? Are you afraid of being rejected?

Do you have any idea where this "supression" came from? Joy is contagious, so I wouldn't think you would WANT to supress it. But if you've been rejected or made fun of I can understand it.

Knowing the reason for it would help you figure out why you're doing it. Then maybe we can work on stopping it. It may take some therapy.

I wish you the best -- keep us posted, ok? Hugs, Lee

I agree with Leed. Are your parents ones that don't show you much emotion? Maybe they are holding back too! Sometimes you might have to just make the first move and express how you feel, I am sure they probably feel the same just may have a hard time showing it. It's ok to be grown up and show emotions.