Screaming really can make you feel better. Why we all need to let out a little yell sometimes.

Earlier this month, a redditor came to the AskLosAngeles subreddit with a question: “Anyone know a good place in LA where I can scream at the top of my lungs?”

This person wasn’t just looking to yell; they were seeking “a really good loud emotional-release scream.” The poster wrote, “Been under a lot of stress lately and am feeling very depressed, angry and sad ... need to let it out somewhere before I lose my mind.”

The answers came flooding in. “I just do it in the car while driving on the freeway,” a fellow redditor responded. Others recommended the beach, Dodger Stadium, a local punk rock show or a “rage room,” where you can scream and smash stuff at the same time.

“I like to go on hikes that aren’t busy and like 10 miles in, I scream into the void. It is so healing,” one person offered. Another redditor similarly pointed to nature: “I used to do this when I was depressed. Went into the ocean and screamed and came up for breaths and nice views. Eventually started to add surfing and [it] really helped.”

Clearly, a lot of people swear by screaming. But does all this yelling have any real mental health benefits? According to experts, the answer is yes. Here’s why.

Why we want to scream

Screaming as a mental health treatment isn’t new. Dr. Ashwini Nadkarni, assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, tells Yahoo Life that psychologist Arthur Janov developed primal therapy in the 1960s as a way for patients to process trauma. Janov encouraged his patients to scream in order to release negative emotions.

And there’s a good reason to believe it works. Nadkarni explains that emotions like anger and frustration activate our limbic system, aka the part of the brain that plays a role in how we express and experience emotions.

When we’re angry or upset, adrenaline surges through our bodies, she says, which “tightens our vocal cords.” This prompts our voices to get louder.

Samantha Silverman, a social worker, trauma expert and CEO of Silver Linings Mental Health, tells Yahoo Life that this adrenaline rush pushes us into “a heightened state of arousal,” preparing us to either “confront or escape the situation.” As a result, “screaming can be a natural expression of this response” — a way to instinctively “externalize and expel overwhelming feelings.”

What are the benefits of screaming?

Letting it all out can have some upsides.

It can help calm you down. “Screaming engages the vagus nerve, which helps regulate the nervous system,” Silverman says. Doing so slows down your heart rate, lowers your blood pressure and inhibits your body’s stress response, or fight-or-flight response, adds Nadkarni, offering a calming effect on the body.

It reduces your stress hormones. Expressing your emotions through a release like screaming can help lower cortisol, a stress hormone, Silverman says, providing temporary relief from anxiety and tension.

It gives you an endorphin boost. Much like exercise, screaming releases endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals, Silverman says.

Where can you scream?

For all its benefits, screaming as a cathartic release — and not because you’re in danger — is frowned upon in polite society. So while you may indeed feel like unleashing a primal yell in the supermarket checkout line, try to save it for these situations to avoid disrupting others or causing alarm.

• Inside your car with the windows up

• On a roller coaster

• At a concert

• Into a pillow

• At a protest

• At a sports game

• In the middle of a lake or ocean

• At the beach, near crashing waves

• In the shower

• In a rage room

• Underwater

• In a soundproof room

The bottom line

Screaming can be an effective way to vocalize your negative emotions and can make you feel better in the moment. However, there are some downsides to screaming — especially if you do it frequently. Yelling can damage your vocal cords, leading to issues like laryngitis, inflammation, vocal fatigue and even long-term conditions such as nodules or polyps. In fact, Hugh Jackman previously stated in an interview that he damaged his voice from all the yelling and growling he did while in character as Wolverine.

And screaming can’t be the only way you deal with life’s difficulties, Silverman cautions. While it can be a “powerful tool for emotional release when done in a safe and appropriate setting,” screaming doesn’t replace coping strategies for long-term stress management.

“If you find yourself needing to scream frequently or struggling to manage emotions, speaking with a therapist may help uncover deeper sources of stress and frustration,” she says.