Writing Therapy: Health Benefits of Journaling
"As the number of studies increased, it became clear that writing was a far more powerful tool for healing than anyone had ever imagined".- James W. Pennebaker
Writing Therapy
When people put their feelings and emotions about experiences into written word, their physical and mental health improves. Writing therapy, or expressive writing, is the act of writing about one's thoughts and feelings for therapeutic benefits. While it may seem like a fairly modern phenomenon in the therapeutic space, the art of writing for health benefits isn't. In fact, it's one of the oldest and widely used forms of self-help methods which can be traced back to ancient times when ancient Egyptians were believed to have ingested meaningful words inscribed on papyrus to bring about health benefits.
In the 20th century, writing therapy became popularised with psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud's Creative Writers and Day Dreaming and in more recent times, expert psychologist and researcher in the field of writing therapy James Pennebaker noted the "mere act of disclosure in written form was shown to be a powerful therapeutic agent".
Journal writing, a type of writing therapy, has grown over the decades as research has begun to understand and prove the numerous benefits writing has for a person's overall health. So what are the health benefits of putting pen to paper? Let's take a closer look.
Health benefits of Journaling
It Cools Down the Brain & Clears Worries
- Yes, you have read this right! For all the worriers out there, expressive writing has been shown to 'cool down' the brain in a state of worrying and free up cognitive resources allowing you to focus on tasks. Michigan State University ran an experiment with students who suffered from anxiety and measured their brain activity. The study found that the group who wrote about their deepest thoughts and feelings about an upcoming task for eight minutes performed better than those who wrote about what they did the previous day. The research concluded that expressive writing cools the brain and makes the mind work less hard on upcoming stressful tasks.
Reduce Stress & Anxiety
- Journaling has proven to be an incredible tool for reducing stress and anxiety. A study from Cambridge University found that participants who journaled about traumatic, stressful or emotional events saw improvements in their physical and psychological health.
Strengthens Emotional Functioning
- Writing acts as a medium to process strong emotions. Putting your feelings down on paper reduces activity in a part of the brain called the amygdala, which is responsible for controlling the intensity of our emotions. Psychologists at the University of California in Los Angeles who investigated the effect concluded that writing helps regulate our emotions.
Improves Working Memory
- When we write things by hand, our brain processes the information better and commits it to our memory. Journaling increases working memory capacity, which may reflect improved cognitive processing.
Strengthens Immune System
- Writing has been proven to strengthen our immune system & decrease our risk of illness. Research from experiments on journaling found that those who journaled showed improved immune function and were significantly less likely to get sick.
The ancients have long known the positive experiences felt by putting our feelings into words. Science has now proved that writing therapy helps people make sense of their feelings and process negative events and experiences. It remains an important tool in health care as a non-invasive, cost-effective way to provide individuals with improved health.
Best of all, anyone can do it!
