Looking for a great job, aspiring to get admitted to your dream college, or trying to become a top performer can make you feel like there’s a pressure cooker inside your head. Swallowing all your emotions for too long does nothing but add to the pressure. This overwhelming feeling happens to all of us at some point in our personal or professional lives. Do you sometimes want to call your best friend and let out how you genuinely feel? Doing so feels like the best relief ever, isn’t it? Giving a free expression to your emotions like this is called venting.
Is venting good for us?
When venting, you need to keep in perspective the fine line between venting and ranting. When you rant you tend to go on endlessly about something, and often without realizing that instead of releasing the stress of the situation, you internalize the pressure even more. The main purpose of venting is letting go of something that has been weighing on you. When you vent, you release the mental pressure and can think straight again. So if you find yourself typing into Google “does venting your feelings do you any good?” – it’s time to put those worries to rest. It does help. Keep reading to find out just how good venting can be for you.
What happens when you bottle up your emotions?
If you bottle things up or try too hard to avoid them, they don’t disappear from your mind and life. When repressed for long, emotions tend to get the best of us and may make us bitter. If you bottle up feelings for too long until you can’t physically contain them, you may start experiencing a downward spiral in your mental and emotional health. It can be shocking to know that some people can continue bottling things up for months, years, and even decades. The sooner you vent your worries out, finding more self-awareness with every emotion, the better off you will be.
How to vent to someone without overstepping boundaries
Reflect if it’s worth it
Sit down with your thoughts for a moment and ask yourself if the things you are so bothered about really matter. If need be, try meditating and if you still believe that releasing pent-up emotions to someone is necessary, it is right to take a step and reach out to someone who can help you feel better by just hearing what you have to express. Such a person in your life is like a safety net that keeps you from hitting rock bottom and enables you to bounce back, no matter what.
Timing matters
Like us, other people are also trying their best to navigate through life and face its challenges head-on. Before directly pouring out everything on your mind to a person, it is best to ask them if they have the capacity to listen today and are doing well enough to offer a fresh perspective.
Don’t drag on too much
Going on and on about what bothers you is not really a good idea. Letting out heavy thoughts and feelings can be effective in evolving your personality. The key is to not obsess over negative feelings or emotions. Doing so defeats the purpose of letting out and may make you feel stuck in the loop of negativity.
Online venting may not be a good idea
Sharing your emotions on the internet may temporarily allow you to feel well and supported. However, you can also receive mixed responses which may or may not solve the reason behind your venting. It is possible that you may not gain the required perspective to move forward with clarity.
Find a vent buddy in a professional
Does venting your feelings to a friend work for you? Or have you tried letting it out to people close to you, and even after receiving their perspective you don’t feel much better? If the latter is true, it’s a sign that talking to a professional therapist is the way forward. It’s best to seek clarity from a professional who can offer you unbiased, well-informed advice to deal with any overwhelming thoughts and feelings. Feelings are not facts and with the right perspective, you can see things clearly again.
Virtues of venting: it’s good for our mental and emotional health
Helps us feel relaxed
Venting helps us bring disturbing emotions to the surface, process them, learn from them, and let them go. Sharing your emotions not only makes you feel relaxed and safe, but also strengthens your bond with others, which creates a sense of belongingness.
Declutters the mind
Very often, while venting out your frustrations to someone, you may be able to make sense of a lot of unprocessed thoughts and emotions. You may gain clarity on how to navigate through cluttered thoughts to a calm and peaceful mind. When your mind is decluttered, you can easily find a way out of your troubles and make clearer decisions.
Understand your emotions
Once you are done letting out and detaching from what had been bothering you, your emotions start making sense. Healthy venting helps you to become self-aware and enables you to learn how to tackle challenges while seeking a job or pursuing a career. Self-discovery can take you far ahead in life.
These are some of the major benefits that clearly answer the question “is venting good for you?”. Bottling up too much for too long isn’t an ideal solution for a troubled mind. It may give rise to mental and physical problems like isolation, anxiety, or more, and have a major impact on your productivity.
Venting encourages you to get going and makes you feel that you are not alone and not the only one hitting a rough patch in your life. Connect with the international career advisors of LaunchMyCareer to help you deal with career anxieties and navigate a successful career pathway.
