Carry on screaming: why letting it all out, especially for women, can make you calmer and happier
Carry on screaming: why letting it all out, especially for women, can make you calmer and happier

Carry on screaming: why letting it all out, especially for women, can make you calmer and happier

Women are always being told to control their emotions, but releasing them is far more important. Behavioural scientist Pragya Agarwal testifies that there’s nothing like a good scream

One afternoon in early lockdown I led my two small children into the garden and told them to scream. “Go on,” I said, setting a timer. “Scream as loud as you want. I’ll join you.” We’d been in the house, socially distanced for more than a month by then. The children’s routine had been completely disrupted and they were confused and restless; my husband and I were managing full-time jobs along with full-time childcare. I was juggling grief, trauma, housework, childcare, writing. I was tired of keeping all the stress bubbling inside and weary of telling the children to stop being noisy. I was also conscious of how, even in the most gender-equitable households, parents are more likely to ask girls to be quiet than boys. What if we released it all at once? What if we just let it all out?

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