Typical of newspaper columns about emotions, this article muddles along with a few anecdotes, a sprinkling of social science, and some facile conclusions. A bo

Typical of newspaper columns about emotions, this article muddles along with a few anecdotes, a sprinkling of social science, and some facile conclusions. A book selected at random from the "self-help" section of your bookstore will give you much better advice. We've all regretted sending angry emails before, which is what makes the article resonate, but it also makes it useless. Sending an email that you immediately come to realize was inappropriate is a powerful teacher, and there's no need for a panel to weigh in on that particular situation. When we subtract out this noninformative core, we're left with a corona of FUD about venting and acting out of anger, formed out of a pastiche of quotes from scientists informally summarizing their research papers. Don't fear anger. Like all emotions, it's not under your direct control. What you should do is name it (say you're feeling angry, at least to yourself), accept that it is ok you are feeling that way, and ask yourself what in particular makes you so angry. Most people are pretty bad at one or more of these steps, and venting is a way to recruit someone else to help. One person claims he is not angry, but goes on and on about a particular point in an angry tone. Another person knows she is angry, and immediately disparages herself for it. Yet another person has a persistent anger around their boss, but they do not know why and cannot seem to shake it, while the boss is indeed behaving badly in some way that would make anyone miserable. These people do not need any sort of admonitions against putting voice to their feelings.