Question

What scientific evidence is there for and against the catharsis? Do you agree or disagree with the idea of catharsis, and why?

Answer 1

Josef Breuer along with Sigmund Freud used the catharsis method in psychotherapy. They used hypnotherapy to help resurface the repressed memories of the clients. But, later the cathartic and hypnosis method was rejected by Freud, in favor of dream analysis and free association to analyze the repressed memories. There have been studies which have shown positive effect of catharsis in therapy by helping people to better deal with emotions, and it also been seen to be effective on patients who have major depression. Other studies have shown that venting out anger may be helpful in the short term but it provides a reinforcement to a person which may make them learn the behavior. The present research on catharsis is very controversial as some studies have shown it to increase arousal levels instead of reducing them.