Complaining out loud is rehearsing your problems for an audience. Rehearse solutions instead.

Saying the same complaint out loud for the fifth time is practice, and what you are practicing is the shape of the problem. Each telling makes the groove deeper and the story smoother, until you know the grievance far better than you know any possible way out of it. Venting does bring relief, briefly, which is what disguises the cost.

Give yourself one full telling and then change the question. Ask what would have to be true for this to get even slightly better. Say that version to the same friend and watch how differently the conversation goes.