驚きを禁じ得ない — this pattern basically only pairs with a small emotion-noun list

Noting this for future reference since it tripped me up: 「Noun+を禁じ得ない」(cannot suppress/help feeling ~) almost exclusively attaches to nouns like 驚き, 怒り, 涙, 同情, 失望 — strong involuntary emotional reactions. It sounds off if you try to force it onto something like 空腹 or a physical state. It's an emotion-reaction pattern, not a general 'can't help ___' pattern.