Has anyone tried this?
What do you do when some obsessional thoughts are going round and round in your head, and you can't seem to shake them off no matter what you do?
There seem to be 3 things that are important in expressive writing:
1. Do you feel the need to write? Is some experience so traumatic or are your thoughts so obsessional that they are interferring with your everyday life?
2. Write for a minimum of 15 minutes for 3 or 4 consecutive days - and see if you feel any benefit.
3. Write for yourself alone. Plan to destroy anything that you write. (Though it really doesn't matter whether you destroy it or not.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writing_therapy
So, has anyone tried doing this? Does it work? Or is it better not to dwell on things at all, and just, you know, bottle things up and wait till they go away?
According to some sources this method works best with people who can change their perspective: sometimes using "I" more frequently; other days using "you". Also, tending to use statements including "since" and "because".
Have you ever tried writing letters (never intending to send them) to people (still living or not) expressing what you wish would happen, or expressing regret about what has happened?
How much of what you post on the internet fulfills this sort of function?
What do you do when some obsessional thoughts are going round and round in your head, and you can't seem to shake them off no matter what you do?
There seem to be 3 things that are important in expressive writing:
1. Do you feel the need to write? Is some experience so traumatic or are your thoughts so obsessional that they are interferring with your everyday life?
2. Write for a minimum of 15 minutes for 3 or 4 consecutive days - and see if you feel any benefit.
3. Write for yourself alone. Plan to destroy anything that you write. (Though it really doesn't matter whether you destroy it or not.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writing_therapy
Quote:
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"In Pennebaker's original experiments, a group of students were asked to write about their own traumatic experiences for 20 minutes, on three consecutive days. Serving as a control group were an equal number of students asked to write about trivial matters. The results showed that, firstly, the amount of undisclosed trauma in the life of the average American student was surprisingly high. Secondly, there was a marked difference between the two groups in terms of the impact of the writing exercise. In those who had written of trivial matters, there was no change either in their physical or mental health. In contrast, those who had written about traumatic experiences showed a marked strengthening of their immune system, decreased visits to the doctor and significant increases in psychological well-being. These findings were measured using physiological markers (long term serum measures, antibody levels, cell activity, enzyme levels, muscular activity, etc.), behavioural markers and self-report (distress, depression, etc.)." |
According to some sources this method works best with people who can change their perspective: sometimes using "I" more frequently; other days using "you". Also, tending to use statements including "since" and "because".
Have you ever tried writing letters (never intending to send them) to people (still living or not) expressing what you wish would happen, or expressing regret about what has happened?
How much of what you post on the internet fulfills this sort of function?