The five wounds
Author Lise Bourbeau popularized the idea of five emotional wounds: rejection, abandonment, humiliation, betrayal and injustice. According to her model, each wound develops a 'mask' that protects us: withdrawing, depending on others, putting ourselves last, controlling or becoming rigid.
It's a self-help framework rather than a scientific theory, but it overlaps with well-studied ideas such as attachment theory and the early maladaptive schemas described by Jeffrey Young. If a wound weighs heavily on you, therapy can help you heal it.