Why do people complain? Not to torture others with their negativity, surely. When most of us indulge in a bit of a moan, the idea is to “vent.” By getting our emotions out, we reason, we’ll feel better.
Steeping yourself in negativity has seriously terrible consequences for your mental and physical health
But science suggests there are a few serious flaws in that reasoning. One, not only does expressing negativity tend not to make us feel better, it’s also catching, making listeners feel worse. “People don’t break wind in elevators more than they have to. Venting anger is…similar to emotional farting in a closed area. It sounds like a good idea, but it’s dead wrong,” psychologist Jeffrey Lohr, who has studied venting, memorably explained.
OK, so complaining is bad for your mood and the mood of your friends and colleagues, but that’s not all that’s wrong with frequent negativity. Apparently, it’s also bad for your brain and your health. Yes, really.
On Psych Pedia, Steven Parton, an author and student of human nature, explains how complaining not only alters your brain for the worse but also has serious negative repercussions for your mental health. In fact, he goes so far as to say complaining can literally kill you. Here are three of the ways he claims that complaining harms your health:
1. “Synapses that fire together wire together.”
This is one of the first lessons neuroscience students learn, according to Parton. “Throughout your brain there is a collection of synapses separated by empty space called the synaptic cleft. Whenever you have a thought, one synapse shoots a chemical across the cleft to another synapse, thus building a bridge over which an electric signal can cross, carrying along its charge the relevant information you’re thinking about,” Parton explains.[/vc_column_text][vc_btn title=”More on complaining is bad for you” style=”outline” color=”primary” size=”lg” align=”left” link=”url:http%3A%2F%2Fwww.inc.com%2Fjessica-stillman%2Fcomplaining-rewires-your-brain-for-negativity-science-says.html%3Fcid%3Dcp01002realsimple%26xid%3Dsoc_socialflow_facebook_realsimple|title:More%20on%20complaining%20is%20bad%20for%20you|target:%20_blank”][vc_message message_box_style=”3d” message_box_color=”turquoise”]By JESSICA STILLMAN, Inc, SouthFloridaReporter.com, Mar. 17, 2016
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