Writing therapy: a new tool for general practice?

> ‘I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I write and I understand.’ Chinese Proverb Disclosure in the form of the spoken word has long been considered beneficial and widely used in counselling and other therapies. Self-inhibition of negative emotions is thought to lead to continuous autonomic arousal and poorer health.1 Writing therapy, otherwise described in the literature as ‘expressive (emotional) disclosure’, ‘expressive writing’, or ’written disclosure therapy’ may have the potential to heal mentally and physically. In early experiments, participants wrote about their most traumatic thoughts and feelings related to a stressful event for up to 20 minutes over three or four writing sessions. To isolate any non-specific beneficial effect from participating in studies, control groups wrote about superficial non-emotive topics. The experimental group observed better physical health, improved immune system functioning, and fewer days off due to illness. This formed the basis of subsequent studies into writing therapy. How writing potentially brings about health benefits is unknown and the underlying mechanism is likely to be complex and multifactorial. One theory is that of emotional catharsis whereby the mere act of disclosure, essentially ‘getting it off your chest’ is a powerful therapeutic agent in itself.2 Writing may facilitate cognitive processing of traumatic memories, resulting in more adaptive, integrated representations about the writer themselves, their world, and others.3 It is also possible that development of a coherent narrative over time results in ongoing processing and finding meaning in the traumatic experience.4 Writing therapy could potentially be a cheap and easily accessible option that would require minimal input from healthcare professionals. We wondered whether it could be an effective alternative form of therapy in general practice, since access to psychological therapies in primary care can often be slow or limited, much to the frustration of …