VENTING : Mindsetopedia Blogs

At one point or another, everyone needs to let go of and release inner turmoil and emotions. Without the readiness or the ability to vent, you may carry negative emotions around with you for a very long time. Letting out your emotions is very important and you don't want to continue to bottle things up. Venting could be about any emotion you want to express, whether it is about feeling alone, anxious, stressed. When you ignore your feelings, you might think that you would be able to deal with it in time but these problems tend to get worse when ignored.

Venting is a two way process involving the person venting and the listener. While the person venting wants to feel heard the listener may not always make them feel that way. The listener should apply empathy while listening which would enable them to connect with the other person and be actively involved in the venting process in a healthy manner. Empathy is an active process and therefore allows the listener to prove to be a confidant and develop a deep emotional connection and relationship.

HOW CAN YOU VENT?

A few ways you can vent are:

Journaling

Journaling has proven mental and physical benefits. The best part about journaling is that you can do it anywhere at any time. It is a healthy, easy-to-implement coping mechanism. And when you write down your fears and negative emotions, you don't have to worry about the possibility of judgment or criticism from others.

Talking to someone

When we need someone to listen to us, we tend to turn to close friends and family. But within we’re usually apprehensive about venting because complaining too much or sharing too many negative feelings may create tensions in your relationships. Venting about the negatives in life can be balanced out with uplifting conversations and spending quality time doing fun things. This can also make the listener feel they can trust you if they ever need to vent.

Give yourself a break

If you don’t really feel like talking to someone or writing our feelings down, letting it go is a great way to cope. Mindfulness helps you develop a deeper connection intrapersonally. Mindfulness is used in meditation and yoga which help you stay calm and move towards attaining peace. It is also used in shopping and driving which have been described as “escapes from reality” for many individuals and pose to be stress busters helping you let go of your stress. Mindfulness is best and substantially used in art and crafts where people channel their inner negative emotions, stresses and anger into something constructive depicted in their work.

BENEFITS OF VENTING

1. In most situations it’s better for you to let go of negative emotions than to keep them bottled up inside. Holding in what needs to come out has been related to compromised health- physical, mental, and emotional. Help you to relieve, release, or resolve such pestering feelings.

2. Venting helps to restore your equilibrium. It helps you think more clearly and accept your feelings in a healthy manner. It also provides an external perspective on the causes and effects of your problems, thoughts and feelings. The other person can provide solutions and productive actions you did not think of.

3. Having someone hearing your problems makes you feel like someone genuinely cares about you, understands you. This improves your relationship with the person and legitimises your feelings.

DRAWBACKS OF UNHEALTHY VENTING

1. Habitual reliance on someone to vent may wear out the listener’s patience and make them feel as though their emotions and needs are inferior or secondary to yours. This regular venting can damage relationships.

2. Venting to the person who caused you stress to begin with can further intensify the negative feelings you are experiencing. Their response is uncertain and can therefore increase your stress levels.

3. In the moment, emotional ventilation can feel almost like problem-solving. By airing out the problem, you’re doing something about it maybe even accepting it and working towards solving it. If applicable ways of effectively confronting the problem actually exist, then ventilation is a an inferior substitute for taking the appropriate action.

4. Venting can sometimes be a way of declining any personal responsibility for the situation that is causing you discomfort.

5. Although venting is frequently known to lead to a substantial emotional release, if it’s done with the wrong people or with too much force, it can also backfire. Angry venting, in particular, can anger the listener and their response could then be heated.

6. Regular venting will make you more likely to get upset by any sort of disappointments in the future. It can get easier and easier to trigger your negative emotions leading you to vent in order to justify and validate your anger.

By,

Ananya Pandey

Council Member

WICCI - DMHC