Expressive Writing
Learn from & manage your brain that circles in thought or explodes with emotion
Expressive writing: Learn from & manage your brain that circles in thought or explodes with emotion
This exercise gives you a simple, effective way to deal with life challenges and the difficult feelings they bring up. Importantly, it also helps boost your immune system. Research suggests that completing this exercise can increase happiness, reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety, strengthen the immune system, and improve work and school performance. These benefits have been shown to persist for months.
Instructions
Over the next four days, write down your deepest emotions and thoughts about an emotional challenge that has been affecting your life. In your writing, really let go and explore the event and how it has affected you. You might tie this experience to your childhood, your relationship with your parents, people you have loved or love now, or even your career. Write continuously for 20 minutes.
Tips for writing
Find a time and place where you won’t be disturbed. Write continuously for at least 20 minutes (this is the timeframe that has been scientifically tested but if your thoughts run out prior don’t worry too much). Don’t worry about spelling or grammar.
Write only for yourself
Write about something extremely personal and important to you. Deal only with events or situations you can handle now—that is, don’t write about a trauma too soon after it has happened if it feels too overwhelming.
Optional final step:
After the four days of writing, try writing from the perspectives of other people involved in the event or situation.
Why it works
When we experience a stressful event or major life transition, it’s easy to ruminate over that experience; thinking about it can keep us up at night, distract us from work, and make us feel less connected to others.
Expressive writing allows us to step back for a moment and evaluate our lives. Through writing, we can become active creators of our own life stories—rather than passive bystanders—and as a result feel more empowered to cope with challenges. Transforming a messy, complicated experience into a coherent story can make the experience feel more manageable.
Reference
Pennebaker, J.W., Kiecolt-Glaser, J., & Glaser, R. (1988). Disclosure of traumas and immune function: Health implications for psychotherapy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56, 239-245