If you call your closest girlfriend to vent about your husband’s diehard devotion to golf, you know it’s a relief to express your feelings. Now researchers have discovered why. According to a study from UCLA, attaching words to a feeling reduces activity in the part of the brain that controls our biological response to emotions, such as increased heart rate when we’re angry. “Expressing your feelings in words may short-circuit the body’s reaction by preventing stress hormones from being released,” says Matthew D. Lieberman, lead author and UCLA associate professor of psychology. So share your woes with a friend, but make sure you aren’t obsessing. “Spending too much time focusing on something is not good because it evokes the experience all over again.” —Jennifer Castoro