If you are upset, write it down
View(s):Writing in a diary is a really strange experience for someone like me. Not only because I’ve never written anything before, but also because it seems to me that later on neither I nor anyone else will be interested in the musings of a thirteen-year-old school girl. Oh well, it doesn’t matter. I feel like writing. Anne Frank – Diary of a Young Girl
When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love. Marcus Aurelius – Meditations
AD 175: An elderly emperor is sitting in his tent on the banks of the Danube river. Nearly two thousand years later AD 1942, Nazi occupied Amsterdam:a 13-year-old Jewish girl is hiding in a secret attic. What do these two persons have in common? Both of them kept a diary of their innermost thoughts and feelings.
Marcus Aurelius, Emperor of Rome wrote down his innermost thoughts in a diary now known to us as the Meditations. The girl, Anne Frank’s writings were later published as a book – The Diary of a Young Girl better known as The Diary of Anne Frank. Marcus Aurelius never intended his diary to be published but we are fortunate that it survived and is available to us. Anne Frank did not survive the war. She died of typhus in a German concentration camp a few months before it was liberated. If she had lived, she may have become a famous writer. Her diary was published posthumously by her father, Otto Frank, the only survivor of the Frank family.
Both these persons did not write for future generations but for themselves. Both lived in troubled times, Marcus Aurelius away from Rome for more than a decade fighting a never-ending war with the Gauls, and Anne Frank hiding from the Nazis, fearing every day that she and her family would be caught and deported. The elderly emperor and the young girl found writing their innermost thoughts and feelings comforting as well as enlightening for their minds.
What does modern psychology have to tell us about the value of keeping a diary? James Pennebaker is Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas. Three decades ago as a graduate psychologist he had serious marital issues and became depressed. After a few weeks, instead of going to a therapist, he began writing. He wrote about his marriage, his childhood, career and other things important to him. In a short while his depression improved as did his relationship with his wife.
After his experience, James designed an experiment. A group of college students was asked to come to his lab and write either on their traumatic life experiences or on neutral topics. Each student wrote for 15 minutes on four consequent days. Half the students wrote about their innermost thoughts and feelings and the other on neutral, relatively uninteresting topics. The purpose of the second group (the control group) was to ensure that any differences between the two groups were due to the content of the writing and not any other aspects of the study.
The study findings were remarkable. Compared to the control group, the students who wrote about traumatic experiences felt an immediate increase in sadness and anxiety rather like after watching a sad movie. There was no immediate release or happy feeling. But in the six months following, those who wrote on emotional topics had half the number of illness-related visits to the local student health centre. There was a long-term increase in their sense of value and meaning. Years later, former students would stop Professor Pennebaker on campus and thank him for allowing them to participate in the experiment. Since his first paper on the study was published in 1986 over one hundred studies since have confirmed his findings. His book Opening Up by Writing it Down coauthored with Joshua Smith is now in its third edition.
The technique founded by Dr Pennebaker, known as expressive writing, is a powerful therapy for not only mental health problems but for some physical illnesses as well. Expressive writing increased wellbeing in women with breast cancer, in those with HIV the immune functions improved, persons with asthma enhanced their lung function, patients with arthritis reported less pain, after a heart attack, persons got back to normal life faster. As for mental health problems significant benefits are shown for depressive disorder, anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder. It can improve sleep and reduce smoking. Persons without any mental or psychiatric disorder can benefit too. Expressive writing protects students from unwanted thoughts after stressful experiences.
Expressive writing is not a panacea for all ills. It has its limitations. One should not engage in expressive writing too close to a trauma. You might feel worse. Give it a bit of time and then write about it. It can’t cure cancer though it can make you feel better. It does not work for everybody. But it is cheap (only the cost of pen and paper) and anyone able to write can try it.
How does expressive writing work? It is not by catharsis or venting of emotions. Simply grouching, whinging and complaining is not likely to make you feel better. More likely it will make you feel worse. It is not the mere expression of emotions but making sense of it that makes you feel better. We all need structure and meaning in our lives. Without merely ruminating about a problem or stressful event writing forces structure to the event and places it in our life story.
If you are interested in benefiting from expressive writing here is how to do it. Find a quiet place. Ensure you won’t be disturbed. The ideal time is at the end of the workday, not the beginning. Write about deep emotions, thoughts and the most upsetting experiences of your life. Maybe you have not had a life-threatening experience but all of us have gone through periods of major stress or conflict. Write a minimum of 15 minutes at least three consecutive days or on fixed days and times for several weeks. Write continuously for the allocated time without stopping to correct spelling or grammar. If you run out of things to say, repeat what you have already written. You can write longhand or type on a keyboard. You can also talk into a recorder. It is all up to you. You may feel a bit sad immediately after but that should reduce in a few days and you will then start feeling better.
Just try it. You have nothing to lose.
I end with another quote from The Diary of Anne Frank, “As long as this exists, this sunshine and this cloudless sky, and as long as I can enjoy it, how can I be sad?”