Curated offline and online expressive writing in the COVID-19 pandemic time

The COVID-19 Pandemic adversely affected people’s overall health. Social media witnessed a surge in emotional expression, where people chose to express themselves in words, providing scope for qualitative psychological research in data collection and analysis. Problems in data collection were undeniable during the pandemic as participants’ mental well-being demanded consideration. The investigators, therefore, adopted a flexible research design and proceeded according to the mental and emotional states of the participants. This research paper comprised two sets of studies with two different groups of participants. The investigators adopted a qualitative-comparative study approach. Data analysis and discussion show the effectiveness, limitations, differences, and prospects of using curated online and offline expressive writing designs and prompts in uncertain times. The offline expressive writing design was pen-and-paper-based; the online design used Google Forms. Both studies helped in healing the participants psychologically, physically, and spiritually with a better understanding of their inner and outer selves.