Patients often tell me what went wrong in the final stages of medical treatment. “I felt better after venting,” one said, “but never changed anything in my life.” This is a trap of poor therapy: the mistake of transient relief for progress.
It is also what America is watching in Washington today. The shutdown can be designed as a budget battle, but it is the same about the performance. MPs claimed a win on air complaints, storms and television. Like patients caught in a cycle of venting, they confuse the expression with changes. The country is worried and stuck. A shutdown is a version of the shouting of Washington in a pillow. It relieves stress but does not solve anything.
Confusion is familiar. The venting sounds like progress because it reduces pressure at the moment. But left uncontrolled, it remains stuck to the people. I often see patients who have spent months with doctors who have made complaints without accountability. He felt mild with the sessions, but his problems remained exactly the same.
Washington is following the same script. Leaders rage on social media and cable news, but avoid the hard work of compromise, business and keeping the government open.
The cost of this political catarsis is real. Each shutdown chips transmits dysfunction at the public trust far and abroad. Citizens stopped believing that leaders could solve problems. In therapy, the patients who are trapped in venting often conclude that therapy itself “does not work.” In politics, the public starts thinking about democracy.
Good medical never stops in catarsis. This transforms emotion into responsibility. A patient may be right to feel anger on his boss, but real progress begins when he determines boundaries, having difficult interactions, or plans to leave. The venting values emotions. Life changes responsibility. Politics requires the same discipline. Disagreement is natural and even healthy, but only if it goes somewhere. Progress is when leaders argue, interact and still keep the country operational.
Shutdowns are contrary to progress. They are avoidance, the political counterpart of slamming the door. It seems satisfactory at the moment but leaves the real problem untouched.
In my practice, I look at the reasons for avoiding loss. A young professional complains about the workplace but never risks a direct interaction with his manager. The venting option for action, making it smaller and more stuck than before. The same behavior is modeling the same behavior on the Washington scale. Leaders repeat complaints, resent out and declare the other side disappointing. They rage instead of solving problems. The venting may feel like leadership, but it is actually to avoid getting ready for television.
This shutdown especially makes corrosive that it reflects a broad cultural change. Venting has become a national language. On social media, outrage is a currency. People post anger rant, prefer, and feel complete as a result. At work, employees share disappointment with colleagues, but avoid facing supervisors directly. In universities, students demand “safe places”, where they can air feelings without inconvenience to listen to anti -ideas. The normal thread is the same: a lot of expression, a little responsibility.
In therapy, I see how easily people get trapped in this loop. A patient told me that he spent hours with friends about his boss’s inappropriate treatment every night. The venting made him feel valid, but it did not change his circumstances. Only when she moved from venting to accountability – keeping a record, determining the time of a direct conversation – whether her work life began to improve. The venting felt safe, but the responsibility changed.
Politics is caught in the same cycle. MPs indicated rail, fingers about the second party and recycle old complaints. Theatrics make them feel righteous and keep their supporters busy. But no real progress is as follows. If anything, the cycle deepens. Each side increases more, and the public increases more condemnation.
Shutdowns were once unimaginable. Disagreement was fierce, but the leaders still kept the government open. The agreement was not understood as betrayal but as the work of governance. Today morality is flipped. Venting payment. There is no responsibility. A fiery floor speech goes viral. A compromise earn criticism.
The result is politics that feels good at the moment but leaves the country weak. It tells Americans that laxity is common and tells the world that America cannot control itself. The opponent of the Washington paralyzed is hugged. A colleagues who trusted the US stability began to doubt it. Weakness at home weakness abroad.
Venting is easy. The governing is difficult. Only one you move forward. Washington has to be selected.
Jonathan minorityA psychiatrist practicing in New York City and Washington is the author of the upcoming book “Therapy Nation”.
