Do you ever just want to SCREAM? Yeah, me too.
It could be because adulthood is taking you too fast. Maybe you’re overwhelmed by school, friends. significant others, or family. Whatever the case, we’ve probably all had moments where we just want to let it all out.
It turns out that screaming is not entirely a bad thing. Under the right set of conditions, screaming can be a good thing. I’m not saying screaming at your boss, or at your lecturer, parents, or friends. I mean screaming out into the air, just for the sake of it.
Here are 4 benefits of scream therapy.
1. It relieves stress
Under the right conditions, screaming can actually help you to relieve stress and feel better about your life. Actually, it can make you happy. It creates a chemical reaction that is similar to the one you get when you exercise. You get a dopamine hit and some endorphins going. Scream therapy can also help to release the buildup of the stress hormone cortisol. So if you feel like you have some pent-up emotions, then go somewhere outdoors where people won’t look at you like you’re crazy. Then let it all out.
2. It increases your strength
You’ve probably seen or heard about bodybuilders grunting in the gym as they do their thing. Maybe you were even irritated. But now, it makes sense because it turns out that screaming actually increases your strength.
Studies found that grunting from tennis players helped them maintain strong and put more force behind their shots. Forcefully expelling air in the form of a quick yell or grunt may help stabilise your core and have the same effect on force production and strength.
A different study found that yelling promotes muscular power and exerts a significant effect on the intensity of cardiorespiratory responses.
3. It’s good for your liver
We may be thinking that screaming is a completely new phenomenon, but that’s not the case. It has been there for ages. Ancient Chinese wisdom believes that screaming is good for your health. According to Dr Nan Lu, a master herbalist and Qigong master, the energy that feeds the liver’s well-being needs to flow, but it can get obstructed by frustration. The remedy is called the Tree Shake, and it involves screaming.
To do the Tree Shake, stand nice and tall, then swoop your body down toward the floor and come up swinging like a tree in the wind. As you shake, reach your fingertips toward the sky, gather up all your frustration and release it with a whopping scream.
4. It can help to release suppressed childhood trauma
The scariest realisation as an adult is that your body keeps score. You may be affected by trauma inflicted upon you years back when you were a child. The good news? Screaming can help with that. Screaming your heart out or your head off is actually part of primal therapy, developed by Dr. Arthur Janov in the 1960s. Dr. Janov speculated that screaming could help release repressed childhood trauma. He called this trauma “primal pain,” and believed that screaming could help people recover from it.
So find a place where you can let out a scream and do it. It is good for you.
