Do you think that perhaps the information about how good writing is for you is a bit biased because it’s generally writers writing about how healthy it is? Because if it isn’t, wow! Everybody should just write. Shut the factories, the cafes and the borders. Give everybody a pen and some paper and collectively we’ll write ourselves into a higher state of mind!
What am I talking about? Well, for one thing
Writing helps you think
Now anybody that’s actually sat down and used pen and paper to work out an idea is going to agree with this one. Writing makes sure that you can’t just jump around like a blind duck on a pogo stick. You need to have some sort of direction and once you’ve accepted that in your writing it’s not a big step to accept that into your thought process as well. rnWhat’s more, writing makes your logical mistakes and jumps glaringly obvious, thereby forcing you to confront them and solve them. In that way it
improves the logic of your thinking and teaches you the power of good structure. rnYou think it ends there? Oh no! Writing has also been shown to improve working memory, enhances social and linguistic behavior and aids your ability to communicate.
Writing makes you happier and makes your relationship lasts longer
You’ve probably heard about gratitude journalism. The research is pretty impressive. Just occasionally sitting down to write about something that gives you feelings of gratitude – you shouldn’t do it more than once or twice a week – can alter your entire perspective and make you a far happier person. rnMaybe that’s why it also helps people with their relationships? Or maybe it’s just that people who write have a better grasp on their emotional life? Whatever the case, it helps in this regards as well, with studies demonstrating that people who write regularly about their relationship stay in them longer and are happier about them.
Writing reduces mental problems
Writing has been shown to reduce stress and depressive symptoms, which in and of itself is
something to write home about (Sorry, couldn’t help myself). Even people who’ve had traumatic experiences found that they processed it faster and experienced less long-term trauma when they wrote. This wasn’t just self-report either. Objective measures, such as how often a person visited a mental clinic, also showed marked improvement between those who didn’t write and those who did. rnNow the people that were asked to write about their experiences did admit that the actual experience itself could be quite difficult, especially if they had some serious issues that they needed to write about. So do take that as a warning. Overall, however, they stated that they found real meaning in the process and didn’t regret doing it.rnWhat didn’t seem to help much was re-reading these texts. Often this brought back some of the problems that these people had as they revisited the trauma. So maybe after you’ve written all that stuff down, lock it up. Or burn it. Or just wait until you’re older and you’re pretty sure it won’t do you much harm anymore. Whatever you do don’t reread it.
Writing improves your social circumstances
People who write get higher grade-point averages, they experience better mood and spend less time absent from work. It’s even been shown to help them find jobs faster, possibly because writing is such an important part of applying for jobs, possibly because many employers say
communication skills are often hard to find. Heck, it even improves sporting performance! And sports are kind of social, aren’t they? (The truth is I didn’t really know where else in the list to put that one).
rnWriting improves physical health
Yes, that’s right. Writing even improves your health. Bet you didn’t know that! And this is not just subjective wellbeing either. People who write don’t just feel healthier, they actually heal faster. Volunteers received a small wound which was then monitored. And you know what happened? Well of course you do, I already told you. For the group who wrote, the wound closed faster. rnAnd there’s more. Other research has demonstrated that people who write regularly have stronger immune cells, better liver function, reduced blood pressure and that it can even reduce asthma problems.
So it’s good for you. Now what?
So is broccoli, right? Well, broccoli might be good for you, but it doesn’t quite have that many health benefits. And besides, broccoli isn’t quite as much fun! Yes, that’s easy for me to say, I’m a writer. But then I wasn’t always one. I had to learn as well.rnMore importantly, you don’t even have to write that much to get many of these benefits. Often you only need to write for 15 to 20 minutes a day for up to five days to start experiencing some of these benefits. Now admittedly, the different benefits mentioned here require different kinds of writing. It isn’t like you’re going to get all of them simply by writing about your cat. To recover from trauma, for example, you need to write about it. Gratitude writing, in the meantime, requires you to write about what you feel grateful for.rnAt the same time, nobody says you have to write the whole time about the same thing. Vary your writing, write about what interests you one day, what makes you happy the next, and what troubles you the day after that. Keep it interesting. And who knows, keep it up long enough and maybe one day you’ll be joining the ranks of those of us writing about the benefits of writing!