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15 Minutes a day of this is good for you?
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15 Minutes a day of this is good for you? |
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Local Rebel Member Ascendant
since 1999-12-21
Posts 5767Southern Abstentia 
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Writing. Turns out that people who write about traumatic experiences for 15 to 20 minutes a day for three or four days are healthier! They visited doctors less in the following months than people who wrote about superficial topics, according to psychologists James Pennebaker and Anna Graybeal of the University of Texas at Austin. Writing about trauma can boost the immune system, reduce levels of stress chemicals, and improve grades in school, reports the Dallas Morning News. There's lots of anecdotal evidence from professional writers about how the act of writing has helped them cope with problems, especially mental illness. But WHY? The obvious answer--you feel better when you get it out of your system--isn't right. "There is now sufficient evidence to suggest that the power of writing is not due to mere emotional expression in the sense of cathartic venting, or 'blowing off steam,'" Pennebaker and Graybeal write in Current Directions in Psychological Science. They conclude that when we write about a traumatic event, it influences how we think about things and gives us a better understanding of the experience and its emotions. We write. We understand more. We experience positive changes in our lives. And get this: Pennebaker and Graybeal determined that people who use the words "because," "reason," "realize," and "understand" in their writing are healthier than those who do not. I hope you realize what this means because there's a reason for you to understand it. --Cathryn Conroy from Compuserve News |
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Titia Geertman Member Ascendant
since 2001-05-07
Posts 5182Netherlands |
It does help. While writing it down one has to think about it in order to get it right on the paper and thinking about a bad experience you'll have to look at it thoroughly and looking at it thoroughly it will open your mind to the why's and how's and sometimes understandings and it will make you feel more peaceful. Well that's how it works for me. Titia A rose is a rose is a rose...I guess... |
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White Wolf Member
since 1999-09-18
Posts 371Somewhere in the vast wasteland |
The only thing I have to say about this is that it has been common knowledge among certain social groups that the word actually has power. The power to heal, the power to hurt, the power to build up, the power to tear down and much more. What you are talking about is nothing new it is just that "important" people are saying or proving that it is true. This knowledge has been around for thousands of years. Writing is just a group of words. So that will be a penny or so worth that I can offer at this time. The White Wolf If life is just a game, when does it end cause I want to get to what is real. |
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rosepetals25
since 2000-05-31
Posts 3076PA |
Writing has always been my choice for venting my anger or sorrows. In poetry.. or in the journal I keep. It is more of a friend to me... whenever I need an outlet I can pick up a pen or sit down and type it all out. It's been that way for as long as I remember. I find it easier than venting to friends at times because I can be completely open and honest. Things I might hold back from people flows freely when I'm writing. |
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Dark Enchantress Senior Member
since 1999-07-27
Posts 1258meet Morgana |
I never really got into writing in a diary. I just never seemed to have the time to. My hand could never move quite as fast as my mind either. I started writing poetry when I was 12. I think the reason why was because I had something to say, but there was nobody there to listen. So I just wrote it down, even if only for the viewing of my own eyes. When I started it was traumatic I guess you could say. I needed to understand the world and myself. I still do. That's why I still write. Well, one of the reasons. It helps me kind of keep track of things. My mind is like some jungle that's dark and tangled. So many beautiful flowers and creatures but I don't know what's poisonous and what's not. When I write I feel that I've untangled myself a bit. Thanks for the post. Made me think. Phoenix Be kind, be true, be bold, be you. Freedom comes when you learn to live unafraid. [This message has been edited by Dark Enchantress (edited 07-21-2001).] |
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catalinamoon
since 2000-06-03
Posts 9543The Shores of Alone |
Yes, I think it has saved me several times. Though recently I am not sure if its the writing itself or the communication with other writers that is the most help. Sandra |
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Dopey Dope
Moderator
Member Patricius
since 2000-08-30
Posts 11132San Juan, Puerto Rico |
Yea, it makes so much sense. |
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