Numerous studies have shown that writing has benefits for people’s health and wellbeing. I recently read an article in an old Scientific American magazine which explores some of the benefits of writing as far as an improvement in the general health of those who blog, and particularly in the case of cancer patients undergoing treatment.
Apparently studies have shown that those who blog about their experiences, their feelings, their hopes and their fears feel better not just emotionally, but also mentally and physically. The difference is so marked that some hospitals in America and Canada are providing patients with the opportunity to blog on their official websites.
While the act of writing in itself can bring about a release of stress and tension, blogs have the added benefit of affording a sense of connection for those who post on them. There is always the possibility that someone else will read what has been written and provide feedback in the form of support, challenge, or insights that open up other ways of thinking about the situation.
In a sense a blog is like a private diary or journal that just happens to be shared with friends and strangers alike. In it writers find a safe haven to express their most intimate thoughts and emotions and have the opportunity to celebrate the circumstances of their life, or rail against them.
Writing provides an unthreatening way to organise a person’s thoughts and seek a degree of understanding of some of the important or difficult aspects of being human. It is considered that writing your pain may be a way of taking control of your situation. Furthermore, writing about your joys helps to cement them into your consciousness. It is a way of honouring and affirming an individual’s experience and story by recording it.
For other posts on writing and wellbeing see the Group Writing Project on Confident Writing.com
