By Kate Nateras
Making friends at work is great to ease that unbearable feeling of loneliness, especially when we know we’ll be spending the better part of our day in the office. Regardless of how difficult it is for you to be social, there will probably always be at least one person with whom you end up clicking—you’ll have lunch together and chat regularly. So, you might as well listen to science and reap the benefits of complaining about work with them.
Even if by some miracle your office is perfect and a dream come true, no work atmosphere is completely healthy, and there’s no place where every single person agrees about everything all the time. That’s why having a colleague to complain about the details that bother you, regardless of whether they’re big or small, can be of great benefit to your mental health.
Having a friend at work to complain with is not only beneficial to your health, it also helps develop your creativity and significantly increase your performance in your corresponding tasks throughout the day. According to a report made by Spain’s Center for Measuring and Improving Welfare in the Workplace, six out of ten employees are completely satisfied when it comes to their occupational needs and with the separation of their personal and professional lives.
A researcher from the University of Melbourne, Vanessa Pouthier, gathered a group of American health experts and monitored their behavior throughout their work hours for 12 years. Pouthier found that the more they were able to express their complaints or joke about how tiring their job was, the better their mood and social relationships with their colleagues. The participants thus developed healthy personal relations among them.
So, science has pretty much confirmed that complaining about work can help us get rid of stress and create bonds with colleagues. And it also increases creativity and performance at the office. However, do keep in mind that more research is needed to take into account the potential hazards of creating a toxic atmosphere filled with negativity, so don’t overdo it. It’s one thing to occasionally complain or joke about the hardships at work. It’s another thing to become a negative person who does nothing but see the bad side of everything. As with everything, small doses of complaining are healthy—but excess can be harmful.
Translated by Oliver G. Alvar
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