The Therapeutic Effect of Writing?

POSTED: 20th JUNE 2024

Since a young age, I have always enjoyed writing. For me, it is more like a daily habit. I often get lost in my writing and forget what is going on in the world. I know that writing is beneficial for several things. It helps me be organised, especially a journal, and reflect on the day. By writing my thoughts from the day, even if I’ve done nothing, helps me appreciate things. If you don’t reflect on the good things from the day, you don’t appreciate and think about it as much.

 

But what does the research say? Let’s have a look :
 

Writing Gives You Gratitude:
 

There is evidence that people who write, particularly on a regular basic, reflect on their day. Because you are writing the good things from the day, you reflect on things on a different level.

Research showed that those who write a journal entry, once a week, reflect on the good things. It allows people to be more positive and motivated, particularly regarding the future. The participants were more positive about their future. This shows that writing, especially journal entries, allows people to have more gratitude - they appreciate the good things and mentally are more positive.

Writing and practising gratitude can significantly improve your psychological health, enhance empathy, boost self-esteem, promote better sleep, and offer numerous other benefits.

 

Writing Improves Communication:
 

By knowing a language and syntax, and how to write, and deliver information, our minds are primed for communication.

It may seem obvious, but writing regularly has been proven to help people communicate complex ideas more clearly. This benefits both emotional intelligence—allowing you to express your feelings—and hard sciences such as mathematics.

 

Writing Can Help You Cope:
 

If you're facing a challenging time, writing can help you cope more effectively. A study of recently laid-off engineers revealed that those who regularly engaged in expressive writing found new jobs faster. Results from meta-analyses find small but significant improvements more related to physical health than mental health parameters (see link below).

Expressive writing has been widely studied for its mental health benefits. It has been shown to help with a range of issues, from reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety to improving overall emotional well-being. These benefits are thought to arise from the way writing allows individuals to articulate and make sense of their experiences, thus facilitating emotional processing and cognitive restructuring.


Summary:

If you’re like me, writing is just something you have to do. But reading about the benefits, for those who regularly write, is very interesting. It is important to understand and facilitate individuals to write. The benefits are clear and I know that each of those points has been true for me, over the years.

Link To The Research:

SpringerLink

Oxford Academic

 

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Want to chat or comment? Go to the contact form - all messages are welcome and I will reply to every message.
 

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