WAIT! It IS true that venting makes a lot of people feel worse. It makes me feel FANTASTIC! But some of the very people I've been closest to in my life, my ex=husband, my best friend, pretty much always feel worse when they vent. And my daughter vents to me, and her friends vent to her and to me, but she NEVER vents to her friends. You'd think that people of similar-enough mindsets would react similarly. I think the article is quite accurate for certain types of people, and I think you need to vent to particular people who have whatever sort of - well, WHATEVER it is that makes you feel good. I know I help a lot of people, and don't seem to help others at all. And i can certainly think of people I've vented to and regretted it later!