The process of discharging built-up aggressive energy, is called catharsis.
The longer the energy builds up, says Lorenz, the greater will be the amount of the aggression displayed when it is discharged.
Catharsis is the ancient Greek term for the purging of emotions by seeing them enacted on the stage. in psychotherapy (particularly psychoanalysis) it is used generally to describe the release of emotional tension when a conflict is overcome or an insight achieved (see abreaction). it is used in literature to describe emotional relief in general.