a little note on venting....

i know there's a common belief that "venting" will help to prevent acting out on frustration.  it's supposed to be cathartic.  but guess what?  that's an old, outdated, disproven idea.  used to be thought that when you had a violent kid, you should put him in boxing or give him an inanimate object to hit, let him "get it out of his system."

turns out, it's not true.  aggression breeds aggression, and "venting" just fuels frustration and lends credence to irrational beliefs (especially when others implicitly or explicitly agree with the vent).

just something to think about.

Venting -- letting your frustrations out -- is encouraged by teachers, parents, etc... maybe because of some trends in (pop?) psychology, or because psychology is now so much more mainstream than it once was.  In any case, I think a lot of people use it as a cover for saying or doing something they know they shouldn't have.  Now I can bitch about some colleague's behaviour or successes or whatever and call it healthy venting, when I know the right thing to do is shut up about it.

I'm willing to bet a lot of 'venting' material revolves around emotions we aren't proud to have. 

so...

venting about the same thing over & over = bad

venting continuously & doing fart about the real issue = bad

holding it in = this

kathygator = expressive crazy furries lady???