Venting out to your 'work wife' is good for health: study

Deesha Bondre | Apr 26, 2019, 18:29 IST

While there may be many that are big advocates of the adage, Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life" we are not one of them. Mostly because, no matter how much you love and enjoy the job that you do, on stressful days, it isn’t the same. You’re bound to stressed, frustrated and even angry in the workplace.
Of course, having a ‘work wife’ helps a bunch, but turns out there is a scientific evidence to prove this school of thought.
According to a study conducted by researcher Dr. Vanessa Pouthier from the University of Melbourne laughing with teammates, in conjunction with a healthy dose of complaining, can have a positive effect on staff morale and relationships. For this, the team examined a group of colleagues at a hospital in the US over a period of 12 months.
"Generally, people don't think there's any value to it or they think it has no place in the workplace," Dr Pouthier told ABC Radio Perth.
"[However] it helps people to process stress and frustration and you notice palpable changes when team members engaged in both activities."
Dr Pouthier said, venting to your colleagues contributes to creating a 'bonding' experience, and thereby aids employees in processing their negative emotions.
"It allows people to recognise how similar they are in the challenges they're facing every day and how they feel about them. One of the best things in the team I observed, was that these griping rituals helped doctors and nurses realised they were feeling the same way about situations and they weren't that different," she said.
Consider this your excuse to vent away.

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