Writing, Stress, and You
April 11th, 2007 by Kathleen Bolton
Normally, Therese is the one with the health-related posts on writing. But I came across this tidbit of news today that I thought I’d share with you:
Really? Sometimes I think writing increases stress, especially when I can’t get a scene to work or everything on the page sounds like drivel.
Researchers have found that for older people and others, writing about events in your life that are causing you anxiety can lead to fewer doctor visits, better sleep and an enhanced immune system. The concept is called expressive writing.
I think there’s something to that. I find that if I imagine someone who I really dislike posing as one of my secondary characters, then I kill them off or make them suffer, I DO feel better. That unhelpful snarky witch manning the ‘customer service’ counter at the airport will die unpleasantly in my next scene. Thanks, Expressive Writing!
Christine Gorman, a writer for Time who was under a huge amount of stress when she wrote this article about stress has started a blog about the nexis between health and media. It’s worth checking out. Her six tips for handling stress are well worth reading.
I often think that the explosion of popularity in blogging is a response to a stressful world. Blogging transcends boundaries and brings people of like interests together. Couple that with therapeutic writing (or ranting) and you’ve got a pretty decent stress reliever.
So blog without guilt. You’re not wasting time. You’re doing something good for your health.
7 Responses to “Writing, Stress, and You”
This helps explain why stress swells for me when I’m not writing. It’s not just about writers’ guilt; it’s about skipping the daily anxiolytic.
Great post, Kath!
I feel edgy when I skip a day or two of writing too. Maybe our brains need the “high” that comes from creativity.
This is interesting. I found that my stress level really dropped when I started journaling several years ago. Now I can’t live without it. When I’m really stressed I find myself immediately turning to it. I have a harder time writing creatively when I’m stressed, but journaling comes really easy. So often I start out my writing session with my journal and then move to the novel. It helps to calm me and get into the writing mode.
We really should do a post on journaling. I don’t do it myself, but I know lots of folks who do, Brenda. I should give it a whirl instead of ripping out the pages and using them for my grocery lists.
Interesting. I took up journaling again while writing that stressful article on stress for TIME.
I suspect you have to write things out by hand to get the greatest stress reduction. That’s certainly been my experience.
That’s confirmed by James Pennebaker, chairman of the Psychology Department at the University of Texas, who was quoted in the news item you cited.
“Writing with pen and paper is probably better than typing because it slows the process down,” Pennebaker says. “You’re forced to think more.”
I’m one who finds journaling very therapeutic. There’s something wonderful about venting onto paper all the things that would not be wise to say to anyone!
I’ve also recently discovered that free writing (longhand) about problems in my mess-in-progress is often a good way to brainstorm solutions. Which also reduces stress. :)
This may be true for writing non-fiction, but I think my stress level increases when I’m writing (or trying to write) fiction. Something about the pressure I put on myself, I guess.