Venting is a healthy way to share negative emotions and reduce stress. But with trauma dumping, you overshare in a way that makes the listener feel overwhelmed or ignored.
Trauma dumping is defined as unloading traumatic experiences on others without warning or invitation. It's often done to seek validation, attention, or sympathy. While some initial relief may come from dumping your trauma onto someone else, the habit actually does more harm than good.
While venting can be a natural part of working through our negative emotions, does it become toxic at a certain point? It turns out, it can. And that's when venting becomes trauma dumping — the act of oversharing your emotions in a way that becomes harmful to the other person.
Signs of Emotional Dumping
You feel like your conversations are always one-sided. You feel like your friend or loved one does not listen to you or take your advice. Your feelings are ignored despite being communicated. You feel more like a therapist than a friend or member of the family.
Consider using a journal to express yourself: Journaling can be great for those trying to stop trauma dumping, because it offers another outlet for processing thoughts, feelings, and difficult experiences. Start journaling and use this as an outlet to vent or 'brain dump' when you're feeling overwhelmed.
If you live with complex trauma or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), trauma dumping or oversharing could be a natural trauma response and coping mechanism.
Is trauma dumping a form of abuse? Most of the time, trauma dumping is not purposefully abusive or manipulative. It's more common for a dumper to be so involved in talking about their traumatic experience that they are unaware of how their story is impacting their listeners.
Venting feels great in the moment, but it can actually make you feel worse in the long run. This is because venting can increase your stress and anger rather than reduce them. At the same time, venting doesn't resolve the underlying causes of your stress.
But it actually creates more stress "because it keeps arousal levels high, aggressive thoughts active in memory, and angry feelings alive," Bushman said. "People say that venting feels good, but the good feeling doesn't last, and it only reinforces aggressive impulses," Bushman told MyHealthNewsDaily.
What is Toxic Venting? Toxic venting feels like an attack on someone's character. Whether you are the one venting, or you're listening to someone else do it, this communication makes the other person out to be “the bad guy.” This type of bad-mouthing becomes an intense form of gossip.
Lastly, it's important to acknowledge that trauma bonding isn't the same as trauma dumping, which is when we overshare overly personal information with friends, family, or strangers. Being a victim of trauma bonding is a state of emergency, not oversharing.
Sharing: Words that reflect our feelings: “I'm very angry,” “I'm hurt,” “I'm not at my best yet,” “It's hard for me,” etc. Venting: Wording filled with accusations and self-justification. Harsh and intense words are being used to describe our situation and our judgment and opinion of the other person.
Having social anxiety
Those who struggle with social anxiety are typically more prone to oversharing. When you feel anxious around other people, it can easily lead to rambling. You might also start oversharing because of low self-confidence or the need to please people.
[Venting is a] coping mechanism that allows a person to rationalize and validate their own fears, concerns, worries, dreams and hopes.
Stressors and past trauma can often trigger patterns of overthinking as well. When these thought cycles start spiraling, it is oftentimes hard to break free from and move past them.
If you're regretful afterward, you may be telling too much, possibly because you crave deeper relationships. The trouble is, oversharing can cause others to clam up. I'd suggest that you take stock of your friends to get a sense of who you can count on and who you can't.
It's common for people with ADHD to overshare information. People may be impulsive and not stop to think about what they're saying. Treating ADHD can help people improve self-control and think about consequences.
Category I is negative pressure, non-condensing. Category II is negative pressure, condensing. Category III is positive pressure, non-condensing. Category IV is positive pressure, condensing.
Venting Types
There are three types of venting in your home: venting for supply air, return air and exhaust air. The effectiveness of these venting systems is facilitated by a combination of heating and air system materials, duct sizes, duct sealant and insulation.
Trauma dumping is when someone shares traumatic experiences or feelings with another person without warning or consent. The only reason you should apologize for trauma dumping, is by obviously not having the proper resources to vent in another place. When a traumatized victim repeatedly talks about their trauma.