We all occasionally whine about things. More so for certain people than for others. But a complainer who complains constantly does it.
How many of you have or know someone who complains constantly? Even a member of the family, a friend or acquaintance, or perhaps a coworker…
They don’t seem to understand that complaining does nothing and won’t improve one’s lot in life. In no way. In reality, one’s situation in life is probably going to get worse!
They fail to see that it is up to each person to accept personal responsibility for their actions and, if they so choose, to improve their lives. It won’t be done for them by others.
How many of you have or know someone who complains constantly? Even a member of the family, a friend or acquaintance, or perhaps a coworker…
They don’t seem to understand that complaining does nothing and won’t improve one’s lot in life. In no way. In reality, one’s situation in life is probably going to get worse!
They fail to see that it is up to each person to accept personal responsibility for their actions and, if they so choose, to improve their lives. It won’t be done for them by others.
THE IMPACT ON YOUR HEALTH
Chronically complaining is detrimental to one’s health and well-being, but it is also harmful to YOU as a close spectator!
The amount of stress that complaining causes is what has the most effect on health. Several major health problems, including high blood pressure and glucose surges, may result from this. According to the experts’ findings, persistent complainers are not attempting to solve the issue.
We grow more miserable the more we moan and the more others around us are chronic complainers.
The negative effects of whining could potentially be as severe as those of secondhand smoking. There is no disputing that we will be miserable if all we do is whine all the time or hear others doing the same.
1. Sympathy turns to negativity
As we try to put ourselves in others’ situations, it turns out that our ability for compassion also renders our emotions open to feeling the same rage, irritation, and discontent as the complainer. More neurons are firing to correspond with the feelings the more often you are in the person’s vicinity whining. Your brain learns to think in a certain way from neurons that fire in a pattern regularly.
2. Stress-induced health issues
Being around people who have a pessimistic outlook on things, people, and life in general causes tension in your body and mind. As your mind makes an effort to empathize with the complainant, you start to experience similar feelings of rage, aggravation, resentment, and sadness. This connection causes tension, which causes hormones to be released to get you ready to respond to the stress. Cortisol is the hormone that is secreted.
Your hypothalamus reacts to a perceived threat by signaling your body to produce the chemicals, which includes cortisol and adrenaline. As your body gets ready to “fight,” adrenaline causes a spike in blood pressure and heart rate. In order to get you ready for action, this stimulates blood flow to the brain and muscles. Sugars are released by cortisol to offer energy.
You raise your risk of acquiring high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity over time if this stress is experienced repeatedly.
3. Shrinking your brain
Stress causes health issues, but it also shrinks your brain when it is repeatedly and continuously exposed to high amounts of stress.
Stress and its hormones have been shown to have negative effects on rats and wild baboons in a research that was published in Stanford News Service.
They discovered that persistent stress results in the gradual production of hormones called glucocorticoids, which results in the shrinkage of rat brain cells.
A second research was conducted after participants underwent MRIs. The hippocampi of those with long-term depression were compared to those of those without depression who had the same age, sex, height, and educational level thanks to this x-ray. Hippocampi were found to be 15% smaller in depressed individuals.
Your hippocampus is thought to help the brain with a variety of critical functions, including memory, learning, spatial navigation, and goal-related behavior.
WE OFTEN DO NOT NOTICE THAT
Those who constantly moan might not be able to recognize how unfavorable they are. No matter how much we attempt to assist them or provide guidance, it is never enough because they influence us. We struggle more to adopt their habits the more we attempt.
Serious complainers have the power to greatly deplete us all, despite the fact that you may not have noticed yet. They disseminate their unfavorable messages to as many people as they can and give us the impression that we are trapped in a hostile environment.
It’s also critical to realize that while a small bit of whining could be acceptable, when it happens frequently, it actually causes additional tension rather than relieving it. We will feel greater tension overall the more we allow ourselves to be surrounded by those who constantly moan. Their troubles start to weigh on us just as much as our own, which may be extremely detrimental to our mental health in either situation.
Take a much-needed step back, check your grumbling, stop it before it comes out, and break links with individuals who won’t attempt to be more positive overall if you feel that you or the people in your life are getting too negative. You’ll be shocked at how much richer you start to feel in only a few days or so.
Perhaps it should be added that studies have shown that those who are generally optimistic live longer than those who are pessimistic. This makes a lot of sense given that frequent complainers may be far more inclined to be gloomy people. At the end of the day, we must all work to advance the best mentalities for ourselves within our means, but these are things to consider.
WHAT WE CAN DO TO FIX IT
If you have friends or acquaintances who always moan, you shouldn’t entirely cut them off from your life. However…
- Don’t indulge them or use their problems or drama. They benefit from that.
- Accept the fact that you cannot influence or resolve their problems. They are the only ones who are capable of doing it.
- Maintain a courteous distance between you and them.
- Recognize that others will evaluate you in part depending on the people you associate with.
- Recognize that the complainer will have a negative impact on your life.
