CLAIM:
Emotions are stored permanently in the body and directly affect specific organs, eventually leading to physical illnesses. Suppressed feelings over time can even alter cells and DNA, causing serious diseases like cancer. Simple emotional states like anger, fear, or financial stress are linked to damage in particular body parts.
FACT:
Emotions can influence physical health and lead to symptoms like pain, fatigue, or muscle tension through the mind–body connection. However, there is no scientific evidence that emotions are stored in specific organs or directly cause diseases like cancer. Their effects are complex, indirect, and shaped by overall mental and physical health—not a fixed one-emotion-one-organ link.
In a viral Instagram reel posted by Anurag Rishi, who has over 4.39 lakh followers on Instagram, a series of striking claims about emotions and physical health have caught widespread attention. According to his LinkedIn profile, he is a “Holistic Wellness Enthusiast”.
In the reel, he argues that emotions are not temporary feelings but are permanently stored in the body and can eventually lead to illness. Referring to the book ‘The Body Keeps The Score’, he says, “Every single emotion of yours is stored in your body, carefully. Every single emotion is attacking a particular organ.” He claims that anger targets the liver, while fear affects the kidneys, adding that extreme fear can lead to loss of bladder control because “the control from the kidneys is getting over.”
He further suggests that insecurity “attacks your knees,” making it difficult for a person to move forward. He links physical pain in different body parts to emotional and life burdens, stating that when someone carries family responsibilities, “this place will start aching,” referring to the shoulders and upper body, and adds, “You will start feeling heavy. You will start having cervical.”
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Extending this idea, he claims that financial stress and lack of money manifest in the lower body, explaining that “the lower part of the spine is the basis of our life.” He also cites teachings from Louise Hay, saying this is where he first learned that emotions correspond to specific body parts.
Making a more serious claim, he states, “The soul of a person who has cried has developed cancer,” and suggests that long-suppressed emotions can alter the body at a cellular level, including DNA. According to him, the body stores “20, 30, 40, 50 years of emotions,” which may not show immediate effects but could manifest as disease years later. He compares this to smoking, arguing that if the harmful effects were immediate, people would stop, but since they appear later, the damage continues silently. “The emotions that are kept inside, they will tell you in the future,” he concludes.
The reel has gained massive traction, amassing over 8 million views, 2.73 lakh likes, and 3.3 lakh shares, sparking widespread curiosity and debate around whether emotions can directly cause physical illnesses in such specific ways.
Can emotions cause physical symptoms? What do studies say?
Evidence suggests that emotions can influence physical health and even contribute to symptoms; however, they do not act in a fixed, one-emotion-one-organ manner, nor do they ‘directly cause’ diseases like cancer as claimed in the reel.
Emotions can manifest physically in the form of muscle tension, fatigue, or pain. When such symptoms persist, it may feel as though emotions are “trapped” in the body. However, this idea is more metaphorical than scientific. There is no clear evidence that emotions are literally stored in specific organs. That said, some individuals report a sense of release or catharsis when expressing long-held feelings or engaging in mind-body therapies.
One of the most widely cited pieces of evidence comes from a 2003 meta-analysis that reviewed 244 studies on conditions like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue syndrome. The researchers found that these conditions were strongly associated with anxiety and depression. As the study notes, “Effect sizes for the association of the four functional somatic syndromes with depression and anxiety were of moderate magnitude but were highly significant statistically.” However, the link was not absolute. The authors clarified that these conditions are “related to (but not fully dependent on) depression and anxiety,” highlighting that emotional factors are only one part of a more complex picture.
More recent research also points to a dynamic, real-time interaction between emotions and physical states. A 2017 observational study tracking participants over 30 days found that emotional states and physical symptoms often change together. The researchers observed that “the strongest cross-correlation between emotional and physical conditions was at lag 0,” indicating that emotional and physical changes can occur simultaneously. They also found that negative emotional states were linked with higher fatigue, while fatigue and pain reinforced each other.
At the same time, scientists caution against oversimplifying these relationships. Another 2017 review highlights that both positive and negative emotions are associated with health outcomes, but it remains unclear whether specific emotions directly cause specific diseases. The biological pathways behind these links are still being studied and are not fully understood.
Adding to this, a 2020 paper in psychosomatic medicine emphasises that emotions are an important pathway connecting stress to disease, but the relationship is complex and bidirectional. As the author explains, emotions can “activate biological systems in ways that increase (or decrease) vulnerability to disease,” while also noting the need for more precise, long-term research to understand these mechanisms.
What experts say?
Explaining the claims, Damini Sharma, a counselling psychologist based in Delhi, said that while emotions and physical health are closely connected, the relationship is oversimplified in the viral content.
“Psychological and physical health are not different entities; they are interconnected. If one is affected, the other will be impacted too,” she said. However, she emphasised that this does not happen in a fixed or organ-specific manner.
Sharma explained that what often appears as a physical impact of emotions is actually mediated through lifestyle and behavioural patterns. For instance, someone dealing with financial stress or family responsibilities may neglect exercise, rely on unhealthy “grab-and-go” meals, and experience chronic stress. Over time, these factors can affect overall health. “It’s not because emotions are changing your DNA directly, but because your lifestyle gets affected, and eventually, that catches up with you,” she noted.
She also addressed the idea that emotions remain “trapped” in the body for years and later manifest as disease. According to her, this is not a straightforward process. Instead, emotions shape personality, coping mechanisms, and behaviour over time. “It’s not that emotions are stored somewhere in the body and then suddenly come out as disease. They are reflected in our mannerisms, how we handle stress, anger, and relationships,” she said, adding that early life experiences often influence how individuals respond to stress later in life.
Adding to this, Dr Nimesh Desai, Senior Consultant Psychiatrist and former Director of the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS), said that suppressing emotions can indeed affect both mental and physical health—but largely through indirect pathways.
“Suppressing emotions, especially negative feelings, has a clear impact on mental health and well-being. One pathway to physical health is indirectly through mental health,” he explained. He added that stress can also influence the immune system, noting that “the immune system gets compromised,” which may increase vulnerability to illness over time.
Dr Desai also pointed to emerging research in areas like psychoneuroimmunology - the interaction between the mind, nervous system, and immune system, suggesting that emotional stress can have biological effects.
Addressing the claim linking suppressed emotions to cancer, Nimesh Desai explained this through the lens of epigenetics. He explained that this relates to epigenetics, where the genes we inherit do not manifest directly, and environmental and psychological factors can influence how these genes are expressed. However, this reflects a complex interaction rather than a simple, direct cause-and-effect relationship.
This story is done in collaboration with First Check, which is the health journalism vertical of DataLEADS
