Pacific_Loner
Pirate from the North Pole
Sooo... I'm not sure this is going to interest anyone, but I've been wondering (and doing some research) about why people who talks a lot about their problems sometimes just can't seem to stop, and is it really such a good idea to do so. I know most people say that it makes them feel better. But from what I've observed of the people around me who goes to therapy, it does not seem to help that much. They say they feel better afterwards because they just spent an hour vomiting all their problems on the therapist. Then they can't wait for the next session to vomit again.
In the meantime, things are not getting fixed and nothing very concrete is done, and they keep talking about themselves and their problems between the 2 sessions.
According to my (very basic - I'm not a scientist) research, venting and talking about oneself generates dopamine in the brain (probably not a big surprise for anyone who has a basic knowledge of the brain). Also, it appears that when your body get used to producing dopamine by venting, it kind of forgets the other ways that it can produce dopamine, which explains why some people gets addicted to therapy or can't stop talking about themselves and their problems.
So I sometimes wonder if we (or the therapist and psychologist) focus a bit too much on "talking about our problems" and digging up the past, when in fact we should allow ourselves to bury the past and focus on the present. Sometimes there is just nothing more to be learned from bad memories, and there is just no use, in my opinion, in spending so much energy whining about things when they cannot be changed and/or are out of one's control, or when the discussion is not meant to lead to some kind of solution.
Anyway, I'm curious to have anyone's opinion, in particular people who are or have been in therapy, or needs to vent a lot.
By the way, please don't think I'm trying to b*tch on people who comes here and vent, I do know it's sometimes helpful to throw it out there and have people telling you they understand.
In the meantime, things are not getting fixed and nothing very concrete is done, and they keep talking about themselves and their problems between the 2 sessions.
According to my (very basic - I'm not a scientist) research, venting and talking about oneself generates dopamine in the brain (probably not a big surprise for anyone who has a basic knowledge of the brain). Also, it appears that when your body get used to producing dopamine by venting, it kind of forgets the other ways that it can produce dopamine, which explains why some people gets addicted to therapy or can't stop talking about themselves and their problems.
So I sometimes wonder if we (or the therapist and psychologist) focus a bit too much on "talking about our problems" and digging up the past, when in fact we should allow ourselves to bury the past and focus on the present. Sometimes there is just nothing more to be learned from bad memories, and there is just no use, in my opinion, in spending so much energy whining about things when they cannot be changed and/or are out of one's control, or when the discussion is not meant to lead to some kind of solution.
Anyway, I'm curious to have anyone's opinion, in particular people who are or have been in therapy, or needs to vent a lot.
By the way, please don't think I'm trying to b*tch on people who comes here and vent, I do know it's sometimes helpful to throw it out there and have people telling you they understand.
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