Having a positive attitude has long been believed to improve one’s ability to fight diseases as well as to weather negative life events. In 1952, Norman Vincent Peale’s book The Power of Positive Thinking brought the concept of a positive attitude out of the religious circles into the mainstream, starting an ongoing debate and dialog that continues to this day. Recent research has shown that a positive attitude does have an effect on wellness by linking stress reduction to the ability for the body and mind to bounce back from adversity. The New Age circles have long believed that using art as a form of expression provides positive effects on the healing process. As writing is one art form of expression, I would like to explore the use of writing as a mechanism to help the healing process.
A major proponent of writing to heal is Dr. James Pennebaker, Professor and Chair of the Psychology Department at the University of Texas. In his early research, he explored the linkage between people who kept powerful, negative secrets and their health issues. He speculated that if people shared those secrets, their health problems might improve and hit upon the concept of expressive writing to expose those secrets:
“Our minds are designed to try to understand things that happen to us. When a traumatic event occurs or we undergo a major life transition, our minds have to work overtime to try to process the experience. Thoughts about the event may keep us awake at night, distract us at work and even make us less connected with other people… When people are given the opportunity to write about emotional upheavals, they often experience improved health…” [1]
Pennebaker cites a young woman who had lost her husband in an accident. She came to Pennebaker with a need to write about what had happened. Per Vive Griffith of the University of Texas: “By the last day of writing she said she was transformed. Within two months the woman had quit graduate school and moved back to her hometown. The writing experience had made her realize she was on a life path she no longer wanted and that she had been putting on a false, cheerful front with her friends.” Despite her major life change, the woman felt that the writing saved her life. [2]
Writing to heal has gained other supporters. Dr. Joshua Smyth also suggests that writing about emotions and stress improves the immune function in patients battling HIV/aids as well as other afflictions. His study, published in 1998, suggests that writing does help in the healing process provided that the writer uses the process to better understand and learn from their emotions. Researchers believe that stress relief is what facilitates the healing process. [3] Dr. Smyth led a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association where 71 asthma and rheumatoid arthritis patients wrote about the most stressful events in their lives vs. a control group of 36 which wrote about an emotionally neutral subject. In the test group, 47% clinically improved, whereas 4% worsened, the balance showing no change. In the control group, 24% improved whereas 22% worsened, the balance showing no change. The effect proved to be statistically valid. [4]
A more recent study, in which Dr. Pennebaker, Dr. Keith Petrie, and others ran at the University of Aukland in New Zealand on 37 HIV patients found that those who wrote about their negative life experiences measured higher on immune functioning than the control group. Dr. Petrie’s colleague Dr. Roger Booth also has linked writing to stronger antibody response in patients immunized against Hepatitis B. [5] Quoting Dr. Pennebaker:
“When we translate an experience into language we essentially make the experience graspable. Individuals may see improvements in… our ability to think about more than one thing at a time. They may also find they’re better able to sleep. Their social connections may improve, partly because they have a greater ability to focus on someone besides themselves.” [6]
There are however skeptics to the concept of writing to heal. One of the drawbacks is that writing about trauma may initially trigger distress. Dr. Helen Marlo of Notre Dame de Namur University states that not everyone will work though that distress. Quoting her: “I get concerned that if people just write about traumatic events, they get raw and opened up and aren't able to work through it on their own.” But Dr. Susan Lutgendorf, University of Iowa, cites that what matters is how a person writes. If the writing does not focus on the meaning of upsetting events, it leads to poorer, not better health. Those who focus on the meaning of the trauma react positively from the experience. Dr. Pennebaker: "People who talk about things over and over in the same ways aren't getting any better…There has to be growth or change in the way they view their experiences.” He also realizes that some personality types have better response to writing to heal and recommends not attempting to write about a negative experience shortly after it happens as it may create a response where the experience may be overwhelming. [7, 8]
So what is the best way to write for healing? As per Vive Griffith, Dr. Pennebaker outlines a good approach: “write down your deepest feelings about an emotional upheaval in your life for 15 or 20 minutes a day for four consecutive days.” Being able to write a narrative, especially from more than one perspective, seems to have more benefits. [9] Dr. Linda Joy Meyers, author of The Power of Memoir, also suggests a story-telling approach and suggests that leads to both physical and emotional healing through changes in the immune system and neural pathways:
“In my book I talk about the ways that memory is stored in the brain and explain how traumatic memories are stored differently. We might stay stuck in the trauma…Putting our experiences into a story—even a fictionalized story—helps us to reprocess our memories and frees us to move forward.” [10]
Margie Davis, a writer and teacher, learned that cancer patients also benefit from expressive writing through stress reduction and positive changes to the immune system. Quoting her: “I need to say that expressive writing isn't just about venting or complaining. It's about coming to an understanding of one's feelings…It's important to write deep thoughts and feelings about stressful events.” [11] Carol Celeste, another teacher of personal essay writing:
“In recent years, personal essays and journaling helped me relieve the stress of family tragedy…I know from personal experience and all the research I’ve done that expressive writing does a body, mind, and spirit good. It brings me true joy to see it help others, and to coach more writers to refine their storytelling techniques as they learn more about themselves.” [12]
Expressive, or story telling writing indeed provides a means for healing from illnesses and emotional upset. The numerous health and emotional benefits suggest that this technique, as well as other creative releases be used more widely for healing and wellness. There are numerous courses and workshops available for those who would like a structured way of learning the technique. A Charlotte, NC based company WordPlay offers a “Writing to Heal” workshop. [13] The anti-violence organization Forge Forward offers a comprehensive writing course. [14] There are also books available on the subject. [15, 16] Quoting Isabel Allende from Susan Zimmerman’s Writing to Heal the Soul:
“Writing is a long process of introspection; it is a voyage toward the darkest caverns of consciousness, a long, slow meditation. I write feeling my way in silence, and along the way discover particles of truth, small crystals that fit in the palm of one hand and justify my passage through this world.”
References:
2. Ibid.
4. Smyth, et.al. , “Effects of Writing About Stressful Experiences on Symptom Reduction in Patients With Asthma or Rheumatoid Arthritis,” Journal of the American Medical Association (Vol. 281, No. 14), April, 1999.
5. Ibid.
6. See [1]
7. See [3]
8. See [1]
9. See [1]
10. Dr Linda Joy Meyers, http://memoriesandmemoirs.com/2010/08/the-power-of-writing-to-heal/
12. http://www.wow-womenonwriting.com/22-inspiration.html
13. See [1]
15. See [10]
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