13 Writing Benefits for Mental Health Unexpectedly

Writing is no stranger to psychiatric therapy. Over the years, psychiatrists have used diaries, questionnaires, journals, and other written forms to help people recover from stress and trauma.

In the 80s, a psychologist named James Pennebaker developed a method of writing called expressive writing. In this method of writing, the object written is about our thoughts or feelings about a particular topic, such as a traumatic event or happy memories. From his understanding, Indonesians might refer to expressive writing as ventilation.

The benefits of writing for mental health
Based on Pennebaker's vent method, many researchers have finally conducted a study of the benefits of writing for mental health. Based on various studies, what are the benefits to be gained?

1. Reducing the tendency to get caught up in bad situations and thoughts
Do you like to say it's hard to move on? Be careful if the behavior refers to the conditions of rumination. In psychological terms, rumination is explained as a situation where sufferers find it difficult to bury the bitter memories they experience. Instead of forgetting, the memories keep ringing in the mind and causing negative emotions. Eventually, the body will respond to it as stress.

Gortner and Pennebaker examined the effects of expressive writing for three days on a number of students who were often trapped in rumination situations. It turns out that expressive writing can reduce the tendency of these students to organize.

Six months after the research was over, the student was reexamined with a questionnaire about the scale of emotions. The results show that expressive writing can reduce their depressive symptoms.

2. Relieve heart feelings
Research by Vrielynck et al. reveals that the more specific we write about something, the more relieved we feel about it. This was proven by 54 study participants who were asked to write in detail about their traumatic experiences.

As a result, they claim to find it easier to understand what is happening in their story. The anger that usually arises when they think of a traumatic event is diminished.

A woman is writing
You can write down your feelings in a notebook
3. Improve mood
Other research by Burton and King developed expressive writing by writing positive happy events. The results are quite surprising, namely by writing positive things in life for 20 minutes per day for three days in a row, can improve a positive mood even after three months have passed.

Expressive writing can take many forms, one of which is to write expressions of gratitude for whatever is happening in life. According to research from the University of Berkeley, gratitude turns out to have an effect on improving mood for the better. For example, you might write "I'm grateful to be given health today."

4. Relieve anxiety
Writing has long been believed to relieve anxiety and stress. This is reinforced by studies from the University of Michigan, which suggests that writing journals as a form of expressive writing is an effective way to reduce feelings of worry and keep someone from thinking excessively or overthinking.

The people studied in this study often feel anxious when going to do heavy and stressful work. By expressing writing, they feel they can think with a cool head and prevent them from fatigue due to anxiety.

5. Improve memory
Another Burton and King study found the fact that the more the brain spends energy thinking about stress, the less energy it has left to form memories and perform other cognitive functions.

The participants in this study were asked to write expressively which is believed to reduce stress levels. The result is quite positive, namely their memory increases as well as other intelligence functions.

6. Help the learning process
Besides improving intelligence function, writing can also help the learning process. Referring to the study of Pastva, et al. which revealed that students who wrote their curhatan about the lesson had higher exam scores than those who did not write it.

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7. Increase creativity
Siegert's research reveals that noting the dreams we experience can actually increase creativity. In addition to developing creative thinking, writing a journal about dreams can also open our horizons about