The Power of writing about distressing events

Regular expressive writing about distressing events can boost your happiness, health and productivity in the long term? Well it can! James Pennebaker and colleagues have conducted numerous studies over several decades now and repeatedly found that although writing about trauma is uncomfortable in the short run, after approximately two weeks, the costs disappear and the benefits emerge; and they last. Pennebaker's team has demonstrated physical and mental health benefits of emotionally expressive writing with arthritis and chronic pain patients, medical students, maximum security prisoners, crime victims, and women after childbirth, from Belgium to Mexico to New Zealand. They've found decreases in depression, anxiety, anger, and distress. They've shown that writing about stressful experiences also reduces absenteeism from work among employees; and increases grade point averages among students. They've even found that emotionally expressive writing has objective immune system benefits. After writing about traumas, people show higher t-cell growth, better liver function, and stronger antibody responses to hepatitis B vaccinations and Epstein-Barr virus. If you're interested, you can read more HERE. Further, if you'd like to learn how to apply this in your life just keep reading below.