Mar 14, 2022 06:00:00

Experts say that ``venting'' negative emotions is not only meaningless but also counterproductive, so what should you do if you feel irritated?

When many people feel stressed or upset, they vent their frustrations by complaining on social media or chatting with friends. However, psychological experts point out that such degassing is not only ineffective, but may even make negative emotions worse.

Venting doesn't work.

https://slate.com/technology/2022/03/venting-makes-you-feel-worse-psychology-research.html

The idea of venting dissatisfaction originates from Sigmund Freud , also known as the father of psychoanalysis, who advocated the catharsis hypothesis, saying, ``It's good to vent your anger periodically before it explodes.'' However, according to Juli Fraga, a psychologist and writer who contributed an article to the online magazine Slate, later research has shown that Freud's catharsis hypothesis is wrong.

For example, in an experiment in which 90 male college students were made angry and then allowed to vent their anger to see if their aggression would decrease, it was found that instead of feeling calmer, they actually became more aggressive.

In another experiment, 600 students were divided into groups, one group asked the other to criticize an essay written by the other group, and the other group was asked to punch a punching bag, and then they took turns attacking and defending. It is said that they hit their opponents harder than those who did not hit them.

In addition to these, research has been repeated to release gas using various methods, such as driving nails with a hammer to distract the opponent from anger, and actually administering electric shocks to the victim, but none of them have been effective. There was no. One researcher even concluded about the catharsis hypothesis that ``venting anger is like pouring gasoline on a fire to put it out.''

This applies not only to anger but also to other emotions such as anxiety. In another study, 178 college students were surveyed twice, two months and four months after

the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, and found that those who expressed anxiety were less likely to express anxiety. It was found that the anxiety level after 4 months was about 50% higher than that of other people. This study alone cannot rule out the possibility that people who are naturally prone to anxiety are just actively expressing their anxiety, but Fraga says that this possibility is not very high. For example, another study of people who post abusive language online found that the majority of those who posted abusive language subsequently experienced negative emotions.

Neuroscience researchers believe that the reason why spreading anger or anxiety actually increases negative emotions is due to the brain's learning. Even if you feel dissatisfied, if you ignore that emotion, the brain nerves related to that emotion will not develop any further. However, the theory is that if the brain nerves associated with negative moods are activated by repeatedly disseminating bad emotions, the brain becomes more sensitive to such emotions.

The question then becomes, ``Why do people vent their anger even though it has no effect on venting?'' Fraga describes the answer to this question as, ``When you scratch a mosquito bite, it stops itching for a moment.'' In other words, whether or not you vent your anger, your anger will subside over time, but as a result, the person who vented his anger will think that he felt relieved because he vented his anger.

In addition, the ``media messaging theory'' has been proposed, which states that the tendency to express emotions is a good thing, and the tendency to accept the emotions expressed by others, induces an outpouring of negative emotions. Masu. In one experiment based on this theory, subjects who read a fictitious newspaper article that promoted catharsis were more likely to want to punch a punching bag than those who did not.

In this way, I believe that the message spread by the media that ``it's okay to complain and complain'' is the biggest reason for promoting the idea that we should let off steam. As Fraga et al. point out.

However, it is also true that suppressing your emotions can lead to building up stress. Therefore, Fraga and his colleagues recommend taking deep breaths to calm down your autonomic nervous system and return your body, which is in a fight-or- flight state when you feel nervous, to its normal state. Psychologists call this technique of distancing yourself from your emotions when they are fluctuating, ` `psychological distancing .''

At the end of the article, Fraga et al. say, ``When you start to feel a little chilled out, ask yourself, 'Why on earth did I get so angry?'' As there is no smoke without fire, there is no anger in anger. There must be a reason for this, so once you've calmed down, resolve the issue or discuss the root cause with someone to make things better.'