Does 'venting your spleen' do any good?

As this is a public forum and can be accessed by 'outsiders', I would be very wary about venting my spleen - if I had any - where I might be identified. However, I do agree with you, Anya about the venting. When it's over, that should be it. If it goes on and on, it ceases to be venting, because the very word is a metaphor for letting go of harmful emotions and grudges.

I've only 'vented my spleen' once. A cousin was behaving in a wholly unacceptable way to my mum. There was an almighty shouting match, the air was cleared, a problem was stopped from becoming insurmountable and when it was over, it was over. The subject has never been mentioned again and the relationship is stronger than ever.
I don't hate my cousin, there's no bitterness, but I wasn't prepared to sit back and watch her upset my seriously ill mum repeatedly!

Maybe there's a difference between venting on a public forum, and with the person who is actually upsetting you?
Like you,*Anya*, thank goodness I don't have this depth of hatred or bitterness, too placid in fact.

thatbags

Not talking about the sort you mentioned nina.

I think venting in the manner mentioned is supposed to be cathartic, so once you've vented you should be on the road to recovery from whatever angst was eating you, I would have thought. If one repeatedly sounds off on a particular subject I think it can be seen as corrosive, bitter, and unforgiving.

I think most of you know that I use the forum to rant about D's estranged husband. I've never "vented my spleen" over this (or anything else, that I can remember) in RL but just ranting about his treatment of D to all of you makes me feel a whole lot better.

Well I am as is well known a wimp.

But I will confess to venting my spleen only once in my life. That was at my sister. I do not need to go into details but it was very traumatic both for me and her I think. However one of the issues I was most worried about was resolved which in effect was influencing everything else, so it did work but at a great personal -at the time -cost.
It took about a year for us to be comfortable with each other again.