Write about your injuries: it will heal you

How the expressive writing technique appeared

In the 60s of the 20th century, it was believed by Expressive Writing, Emotional Upheavals, and Health that the impact of psychological trauma on health is determined by how much it disturbed a person's life.

However, the rating of injuries dangerous to health has always cited events such as the death of a spouse or the loss of a job - something that they do not hesitate to talk about openly. Cases involving sex or causing death to another person were not taken into account.

In the mid-1980s, however, researchers began to notice that psychological traumas, which are usually kept silent, have a stronger impact on health than those that are talked about openly.

Noting this trait, researcher and psychologist James W. Pennebaker suggested that if hushing up injuries is bad for your health, talking about them can improve your condition.

In 1988, he conducted the first experiment, Disclosure of traumas and immune function: Health implications for psychotherapy. dedicated to uncovering feelings and emotions associated with traumatic experiences.

The study involved 50 healthy students, divided into two groups. For four days, some had to write about traumatic events in the past, others about superficial topics.

To do this, students came to the laboratory and for 15 minutes, without stopping or stopping, they poured the most bitter and painful memories onto paper. After the session, the participants in the first group deteriorated, but none of the students stopped the experiment.

Six weeks after the study, students who wrote about their psychological trauma were in better mood and less sick than those who simply wrote about the events of the day. Their immunity improved, and visits to the doctor became less frequent. Disclosing the experience of traumatic events not only provided them with psychological comfort, but also improved their physical health.

What you can use the technique for

The technique of expressive writing works on the same principle: it helps to throw out a traumatic experience, to open a psychological abscess. It can be used for any area of your life in which you are experiencing stress.

Health

After the first experiment with students, Pennebaker conducted another Disclosure of traumas and health among Holocaust survivors., this time with Holocaust survivors. Based on data from 60 recorded interviews, the researcher found that open-minded people who talk a lot about their experiences have better health.

Describing stressful life events improves Effects of writing about stressful experiences on symptom reduction in patients with asthma or rheumatoid arthritis: a randomized trial. lung function in patients with asthma, reduces the severity of rheumatoid arthritis. In a study by American scientists, 47% of patients who wrote about stressful events noted clinically significant health improvements.

Career

Throwing negativity on paper also helps in the professional field. Drake Beam Morin's Expressive Writing and Coping with Job Loss survey included 63 people who had just been fired.

Some of the participants shared their thoughts and deep feelings of being fired and how it affected their personal and professional lives. Others wrote about their plans for the day, about how they are trying to find a new job.

After five days of 30-minute writing sessions, the researchers followed the participants' progress for eight weeks. As a result, more people found a new one in the group that wrote about the loss of a job.

Studies

A 2003 study found Stress management through written emotional disclosure improves academic performance among college students with physical symptoms. that psychological disclosure affects academic success.

Over the course of four days, one group of students wrote about stressful events, and another about how they were spending their time. Students noted their mood before and after each session, and scholars recorded their current and next semester scores.

Compared to the control group, the students who described stress received the best scores in the next semester. Among them, there was also a gradual improvement in mood from the first to the last session of writing. The representatives of the control group did not have such dependence.

How to use the expressive writing technique

Find a quiet place so that nothing distracts you.
Grab a pen and paper or sit at your computer.
Time yourself is important; set aside at least 15 minutes and write throughout without stopping, without being distracted by other activities or thoughts.
Pick one traumatic event in your life, first of all, one that you haven't told anyone about.
Write about how you felt at that moment and how you feel now. How this event changed your life, influenced your personality, self-esteem, attitude towards family and friends.
If you have no new thoughts, repeat the old one until something else appears in your head.
Don't follow the style, spelling, and punctuation, correct mistakes, or think about how the text will look when you're done.
You may cry when reliving a traumatic event, or your mood may be severely damaged - this is normal. In Pennebaker's experiment, students pouring their revelations onto paper suffered during the sessions, but felt great after a while.
Conduct at least four writing sessions. You can describe any past traumas and stressful situations that worry you.

Now you have in your arsenal a great remedy for dealing with stress and inner pain.