Why Does Writing Help?

Writing heals us. I know, I know…. I’ve blogged about this before. I’ve discussed the emotional benefits and the physical benefits. And even the potential social benefits. But the Harvard Business Review just published an article that highlighted the whys behind this phenomenon and I wanted to take the opportunity – again – to discuss the powerful connection between writing and healing.

HBR author Deborah Siegel-Acevedo rightly addresses the elephant in the room: writing about a painful event, on the face of it, seems, well, painful. Not liberating. Our thoughts dictate our mood, right? But writing is different. While research tells us that putting words to paper can, in the immediate term, feel uncomfortable, the longer-term benefits are overwhelmingly positive. So why is this?

According to the article, expressive writing “frees up” cognitive resources. Brain tissue, which we know can be damaged as a result of trauma, can be repaired, when people relay their suffering in writing. The very act of translating pain into words can literally change the way the memory is processed neurologically.

And so, in simple terms, when we write, we heal our brain. We gain a sense of agency over our lives. We find meaning for our experience. We turn ourselves from victims into survivors.

Expressive writing is defined as anything where we connect our feelings to events. It can be journaling, letter writing, poetry, or my favorite, memoir work. And as little as 15 minutes of expressive writing a day, for three or four days, can yield powerful benefits.

So here is my annual appeal to you – write.

Write about the difficulty of your adolescence or the isolation of this past year. Write about your parents, your marriage, your empty nest. Write about your illness. Write about your broken heart.

Just write.

And when you want help piecing it together, please give me a shout.

I’d be honored to help you tell your sum of your stories. And, through the process, to heal.