According to George Bonanno, the ability to both let out and hold in one's emotions may be the key to achieving a healthy, balanced mental state. The professor of psychology and education developed the hypothesis after studying the distress levels of college students and their ability to control emotions immediately after 9/11. Follow-up studies with the same group revealed that those least distressed were individuals able to express and suppress their emotions on command.

Bonnano also found that these students were better able to adjust to changes around them

The article, entitled "Expressing Yourself Isn't Always Ideal," appeared in the June 1 edition of the Eurek Alert.

Published Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2004