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Expressive Writing: A Simple and Proven Tool to Manage Stress


Popular social media posts and self-help books extol the benefits of correctly naming our emotions, reproducing a lengthy menu of emotional labels to choose from. This is a good exercise in cultivating emotional intelligence through self-awareness. In this context, expressive writing is a simple and proven tool that expands on this facet of self-awareness to use writing as a tool to regulate emotions. Expressive writing involves engaging in deep and meaningful writing about a stressful life event or trauma (Pennebaker & Seagal, 1999). It is hypothesized that the act of converting emotions and images into words changes the way a person thinks and organizes about a stressful situation. By integrating thoughts and feelings related to the stress or trauma, an individual then can develop a more coherent narrative of the experience. 

The instructions for expressive writing are as under (Gortner et al., 2006):

    “For the next 3 days, write about your very deepest thoughts and feelings about any difficult or emotionally disturbing events you are experiencing in your life right now. You may also tie your topic in with any past stressful or traumatic experiences you have had. You might link your topic to your relationships with others, including family and friends. You may also want to link your experience to your past, your present, or your future, or to who you have been, who you would like to be, or who you are now. You may write about the same general issues or experiences in all days of writing or on different experiences each day. Don’t worry about grammar or spelling – that is not important.”

To get the full benefit of this intervention, let go of your inhibitions when penning down your deepest emotions and thoughts. These are thoughts that you haven't said or wouldn't tell anyone. Typically, this exercise is done over 3-5 days with 15-20 minutes of writing time on each day and no breaks during the span of writing. Individuals who are most likely to benefit from expressive writing are those who have a tendency to be less expressive and try to suppress their emotions (Gortner et al., 2006). 

Research supports that expressive writing, by way of reducing brooding about distressing thoughts and feelings, decreases negative judgments about a stressful event (Gortner et al., 2006). This then allows an individual to emotionally process stress with a wider range of potential perspectives and emotional experiences. Brooding is a kind of rumination and rumination is a known risk factor for depression (Nolen-Hoeksema et al., 2008). Thus, it is intuitive to link reduction in depression with expressive writing and this has been supported by research. Expressive writing has been shown to not only prevent depression in individuals with a history of depression but also to significantly decrease depressive symptoms in people diagnosed with clinical depression (Gortner et al., 2006; Krpan et al., 2013).

Research suggests that expressive writing, besides reducing depressive symptoms, can also decrease Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms (Procaccia et al., 2021). This can be explained by exposure theory which posits that repeated exposure by way of describing and reliving one's painful thoughts and emotions eventually leads to extinction of these thoughts and feelings (Frattaroli, 2006). However, one should seek professional help if trauma-related symptoms are severe. A word of caution here is that expressive writing may not be that useful for people who are already expressive in their emotions (verbally or otherwise). Also, it is more useful for events that an individual hasn't fully processed yet (Frattaroli, 2006). 

To learn more about evidence-based self-management techniques that promote mental health and well-being, check out Dr. Duggal's Author Page.

HARPREET S. DUGGAL, MD, FAPA

REFERENCES

Frattaroli, J. Experimental disclosure and its moderators: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 132(6), 823-865.

Gortner, E. M., Rude, S. S., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2006). Benefits of expressive writing in lowering rumination and depressive symptoms. Behavior Therapy, 37, 292-303.

Krpan, K. M., Kross, E., Berman, M. G., Deldin, P. J., Askren, M. K., & Jonides, J. (2013). An everyday activity as a treatment for depression: the benefits of expressive writing for people diagnosed with major depressive disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders, 150, 1148-1151.

Nolen-Hoeksema, S., Wisco, B. E., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2008). Rethinking rumination. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 3(5), 400-424.

Pennebaker, J. W., & Seagal, J. D. (1999). Forming a story: the health benefits of narrative. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 55(10), 1243-1254.

Procaccia, R, Segre, G, Tamanza, G., & Manzoni, G. M. (2021). Benefits of expressive writing on healthcare worker’s psychological adjustment during the Covid-19 epidemic. Frontiers in Psychology 12:624176. Doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.624176





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