Benefits of Writing for your Mental Health

Regardless of how you have chosen to express yourself through dancing, music, art, writing, and self-expression, it remains a very natural and liberating experience; that it can be used for processing unfortunate, challenging moments and even accumulated stress. When I write my college essay for me I can also ask professionals to help me instead of taking this responsibility on my shoulders because I am so exhausted sometimes.

Most people don’t know that writing is therapeutic and below are some of the benefits of writing;

1-Unstructured expressive writing

Pennebaker and colleagues’ introduced it as a therapeutic exercise in the 1980s. It involves writing your very deepest thoughts and how you feel about a very emotional event that has affected you. The goal is to keep writing nonstop and keep the flow for at least 20 minutes while paying no attention to your spelling or grammar.

2-Gratitude writing

Gratitude writing is another form of writing that has a significant positive effect on mental health. It creates a great sense of optimism and satisfaction. Keeping a daily or weekly gratitude journal requires you to take a few minutes to think of and write about the things you are most grateful for. 

3-Expressive writing for depression

Another form of writing that is beneficial to your mental health is the one involving expressiveness. Several studies have shown that expressive writing helps milder depression. However, studies have shown that excessive writing is not helpful to those with severe depression symptoms. Therefore, if your depression symptoms are mild, you may want to consider writing from an observer’s perspective and giving the impression that distressed responses are normal.

4-Expressive writing for PTSD

Studies have shown that expressive writing can reduce Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms. You must write every day for at least 30 minutes and keep at it for at least five days. The study further states that you must write from the present moment looking back against imagining the trauma like it is just happening. Expressive writing for PTSD requires you to write while feeling safe and anchored in the here and now; go into details of events, be nonjudgmental, revisit the same event as many times as possible before moving on to other events. 

If you ever find yourself stuck, ask yourself some of the following questions;

“What is the next thing that happened?”

“Who helped you at that point in time?”

“At what point did you know you were safe?”

5-Writing for sleep disturbance

Writing exercises, in some cases, can help with sleep issues. Spending 5 minutes of your time writing a to-do list for the next day can help you fall asleep faster than usual. The same way of writing about tasks you have completed can delay your ability to fall asleep. Therefore, if you want to fall asleep more quickly, consider using pre-sleep writing to itemize tomorrow’s plans and de-clutter your head. 

Therefore, for your mental health and writing to improve it, discover what works for you, and pursue aggressively.