Writing is a Tool to Heal

Talking about experiences which are difficult to overcome, eases the pain consumers may suffer when traumatized, yet research has been done which shows that expressing the self by other means can help the healing process of trauma not only mentally but physically as well.  This is expressing the emotions in word.  Its been understood that relinquishing the emotions of a traumatic experience may be consoling through writing because there is a calming effect when people are writing.

The study being done for the first time showed that, “writing about personally distressing events can speed wound healing in an older population that is at risk of poor healing”.How Writing Heals Wounds — Of Both the Mind and Body | TIME.com  This however is not the only time a connection has been understood between mental and physical health.  As I have written in the past a number of letters, I myself find that what I have written did have a calming effect on me, though I was not suffering from any experiences considered a trauma, I did find that I felt peaceful and that my relationships and thoughts were clearer of those I had been writing to. 

The terms in psychological health, it proved a bit more conflicting, as a recent study expressed that writing about disturbing events which happened to soldiers might improve relationships among those soldiers returning from war zones, while in another study those suffering from PTSD who wrote about their experiences found no consolation at all.  Yet, they did after putting their emotions in words, found that their mood improved and there were less stress hormones in those patients.

Writing it is said, helps the body by reducing stress and there is less anxiety, therefore lesser stress hormones which could interfere with the physical wound healing.  Emotional writing is not helpful for everyone.  In one particular study it was found when some people wrote about the worst parts of their trauma, their anxiety level increased and those people who are open emotionally, showed less worry.  All of this goes to show people have ways of coping which are different from others when engaged in a traumatic experience and that those who find solace by expressing those events find it by expressing their emotions through writing which has become an important tool to recovery to them of both the mind and physical body.

Written by Donald S

The Idea of Empathy

Empathy is the sharing of feelings and or ideas of another person or persons. There are ways to reach others how to handle their emotions which is through trust and empathy. These two aspects help in learning and coping with emotions through verbalizing in a way that the experience of learning and coping are understood by the mental health consumer. I for a long time, having used drugs throughout my mid-teens to middle adult life, had a hard time at understanding or being understood. I was frustrated, and had a hard time acquiring my needs, I didn’t know how to express my true feelings anymore and basically “vegetated” and identified with anyone who was at the bottom of the “heap”. Empathy is real, it is responding in a way that others are as satisfied as you are or want to be, reflecting and expressing yourself in a proper way in respect to feelings of others. It was difficult at that time in my life, harboring anger, and discontent towards others, yet with the compassion of mental health workers, case managers, therapist and other consumers, I began to build self esteem and listen and know what expressions brought good feelings which helped me to understand that I could think of good ideas and solve problems by associating with others instead of living in frustration. Learning to involve yourself, with people with similar aspirations helps build friendships and strength of character. This involves empathy, yet as we are climbing from the depths of a well, the apathy, the lack of interest or motivation has to become something other than the indifference we live. The helplessness and anxiety exit yet when understanding and support of our weakness is understood the apathy gives way to empathy, and then we begin to develop our identity and know the importance of respect for our fellow beings. Written by Donald Sammons