And The Winner – Journaling over Stress
ByI was preparing a chart for a workshop; a chart about the benefits of journaling. I found statements that it improves cognitive functioning and strengthens the immune system but then I found something from the AMA Journal:
“Writing about stressful life events helped reduce symptoms of asthma and rheumatoid arthritis in patients with these chronic illnesses. The effects of the writing exercise were still evident four months later and resulted in clinically meaningful improvements in patient symptoms.
The new findings add to a growing body of evidence linking mental health to physical well-being. Although researchers are not sure how this technique — called “expressive writing” — can lead to improvements in health, they speculate that it may help people better cope with stress, which can take a deleterious toll on health.
On average, asthma patients who wrote about their most stressful life event showed a 19% improvement in a specific measure of lung function, while control asthma patients showed no change, the researchers report. Rheumatoid arthritis patients were found to have a 28% reduction in symptoms, whereas control arthritis patients did not improve.
Ventilation of negative emotion, even just to an unknown reader, seems to have helped these patients acknowledge, bear, and put into perspective their distress. In this and a growing number of studies, it is not simply mind over matter, but it is clear that mind matters.
The Journal of the American Medical Association April 14, 1999;281:1304-1309, 1328-1329″
Everybody tells us to relax, to chill out, to slow down, to take a load off, do deep breathing exercises, yoga, etc. but journaling is a practice that requires little extra tools that are inexpensive.
Try some during the busyness of the Holidays when there just seems to be more of more.
Bud,
I so appreciate the evidence you presented that supports the physical benefits of keeping a journal for those who suffer from chronic illness, and how their symptoms were lessened even months later. That is truly amazing.
I encourage folks to keep a journal for all kinds of benefits, so I want to thank you for providing this information to folks who may need some physical relief and have not yet tried journal writing.
I have picked your post, And the Winner – Journaling Over Stress, as the #JournalChat Pick of the Day for 12/21/10 for all things journaling on Twitter. I will post a link on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and my blog, Refresh with Dawn Herring.
You’re welcome to follow my @JournalChat account for all things journaling on Twitter.
Thanks again for an insightful and informative post.
Be refreshed,
Dawn Herring
JournalWriter Freelance
@JournalChat on Twitter
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Thanks for the post! I’d also like to mention that video journaling has shown the potential to increase well-being. It’s all about expression and not keeping stuff bottled up, right? Whether pen, laptop or camcorder…:)
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I really must thank you. I am a severe asthmatic and even my counselors didnt believe that my journal writing was helping me more then some of my meds. Needless to say i took this in and showed them then did a trial 4 weeks without the medication the thought i should be on. Journal writing has allowed me to be at least one kind of medication free