New Research Suggests Complaining is Bad for Your Brain

When you're dating, it's easy to fall into unhealthy patterns, especially when things aren't going your way. Do you tend to complain about your bad dates with your friends? Maybe you get together over drinks to whine about the latest round of awful dating experiences or the state of your love lives. While it feels good to let off some steam, could it actually be making things worse?

According to Trevor Blake, an entrepreneur and author of Three Simple Steps: A Map to Success in Business and Life, listening to too much complaining is bad for your brain. In a recent interview for Inc. Magazine, he outlines how neuroscientists have learned to measure brain activity when faced with various stimuli, including a long gripe session.

For instance, his research shows that exposure to 30 minutes or more of negativity actually peels away neurons in the brain's hippocampus. "That's the part of your brain you need for problem solving," he says. "Basically, it turns your brain to mush."

Worse than that, Blake claims the brain acts like a muscle, and the more we are around someone who's negative the more we act that way ourselves.

So how do you protect yourself from all of that negativity, especially when you feel a need to vent? Following are some of his suggestions:

Distance yourself. Blake says to look at complaining like second-hand smoking. Just because you're not doing it yourself doesn't mean that it's not affecting you. Instead of sitting in a room with a complainer and passively listening to their rant, remove yourself, sooner than later.

Find a solution. This is not so easy to do. Blake suggests you try asking the complainer what he or she would do to fix the problem. Usually when someone leans toward complaining, they aren't looking for a solution - they are looking for other people to listen and sympathize with their rants. But throwing the question out there might help them get the hint that you're not willing to listen to their problems anymore unless they do something about it.

Protect yourself. There's nothing wrong with a little creative visualization. If you can picture yourself in another location that you find relaxing - like an island or beach, it will help keep your mind from absorbing all the negativity. You could also picture a shield protecting you from the negative chatter around you - much like athletes do during tense moments in a game. It helps to block out the noise from the crowd when you have an invisible protective barrier around you.

Bottom line: be aware of the complainers in your life, especially if you are one yourself! It's time to start protecting yourself from negative energy.