https://theconversation.com/to-reduce-stress-and-anxiety-write-your-happy-thoughts-down-99349
Category: choosing writing techniques
Differential efficacy of written emotional disclosure for subgroups of fibromyalgia patients.
Br J Health Psychol. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2009 Oct 8.
Published in final edited form as:
Objectives
To identify differential health benefits of written emotional disclosure (ED).
Methods
Pain-coping style and demographic characteristics were examined as potential moderators of ED treatment efficacy in a randomized controlled trial with female fibromyalgia patients.
Results
Of three pain-coping styles, only patients classified as interpersonally distressed (ID) experienced significant treatment effects on psychological well-being, pain, and fatigue. Treatment effects on psychological well-being were also significantly greater for patients with a high level of education.
Conclusions
Patients with an ID-coping style and/or high education appear to benefit most from ED.
Writing therapy
Beyond the classroom: Writing as therapy
Lessons from writing sessions: a school-based randomized trial with adolescent orphans in Rwanda.
Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2014 Dec 22;5:24917. doi: 10.3402/ejpt.v5.24917. eCollection 2014.
Treatments for adolescents affected by long-term loss in low- and middle-income countries are lacking. As school-based interventions are cost-efficient and easy to disseminate, an evaluation of this treatment setting for adolescents is worthwhile.
OBJECTIVE:
Examining the effect of a school-based unstructured emotional writing intervention (sensu Pennebaker, group 1) about the loss of a parent to reduce adaptation problems to loss, compared to writing about a hobby (group 2), and non-writing (group 3).
METHOD:
We randomly assigned 14-18-year-old Rwandan orphans to one of the three conditions (n=23 per condition). Before and after the intervention, subjects completed the Prolonged Grief Questionnaire for Adolescents and the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview for Children and Adolescents, Part A, on depression as self-report measures of long-term effects of early parental loss.
RESULTS:
Repeated measures analyses of variance showed no differential effect for any of the three conditions but revealed a significant effect of time at posttest regarding grief severity. Reduction of grief symptoms was significantly higher in subjects with elevated grief. Depressive symptoms showed no significant change from pre- to posttest in the emotional writing condition, whereas they significantly decreased in the control condition.
CONCLUSIONS:
RESULTS imply that unstructured, brief emotional writing might not be indicated in adolescents affected by early parental loss who show severe and long-term distress; a more structured approach seems recommendable.
Emotional expression and physical health: revising traumatic memories or fostering self-regulation?
J Pers Soc Psychol. 1996 Sep;71(3):588-602.
Greenberg MA1, Wortman CB, Stone AA.
Health benefits derived from personal trauma disclosure are well established. This study examined whether disclosing emotions generated by imaginative immersion in a novel traumatic event would similarly enhance health and adjustment. College women, preselected for trauma presence, were randomly assigned to write about real traumas, imaginary traumas, or trivial events. Yoked real-trauma and imaginary-trauma participants wrote about real-trauma participants’ experiences. Imaginary-trauma participants were significantly less depressed than real-trauma participants at immediate posttest, but they were similarly angry, fearful, and happy. Compared with control group participants, both trauma groups made significantly fewer illness visits at 1-month follow-up; however, real-trauma participants reported more fatigue and avoidance than did the other groups. Imaginary-trauma group effects could reflect catharsis, emotional regulation, or construction of resilient possible selves.
Adapting narrative exposure therapy for Chinese earthquake survivors: a pilot randomised controlled feasibility study.
BMC Psychiatry. 2014 Oct 3;14:262. doi: 10.1186/s12888-014-0262-3.
Narrative exposure therapy (NET) is a brief, manualised treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It has been shown to have therapeutic benefits for a wide range of individuals and settings. This study, following our previous work applying the original NET in earthquake survivors, aimed to revise NET to be adaptable for treating PTSD after a natural disaster.
METHODS:
A randomised waiting-list controlled study was conducted with 30 adult participants with PTSD who were randomly allocated to NET (n = 10), revised NET (NET-R; n = 10) or a waiting list condition (WL; n = 10). Participants in NET and NET-R received treatment immediately; those in the WL condition received NET-R treatment after a waiting period. All groups were assessed on PTSD, general distress, anxiety, depression, social support, coping and posttraumatic change before and after treatment and three-month follow-up.
RESULTS:
Compared with WL, both NET and NET-R groups showed significant reductions in PTSD and related symptoms. Significant increases were found in posttraumatic growth, active coping and perceived social support. The WL group showed similar improvements after treatment. Further reductions on PTSD symptoms were found at three months, showing that NET-R is as effective as the original NET in treating post-earthquake traumatic symptoms in adult Chinese earthquake survivors.
CONCLUSIONS:
NET-R is a feasible and cost-effective intervention for Chinese earthquake survivors. Further studies are needed to replicate these findings in other survivor populations, and with larger samples and over longer periods. This study highlighted the value of oral narrative approach, which is well-accepted and useful in the context of single natural disaster and lower- income area.
Efficacy of Narrative Writing as an Intervention for PTSD: Does the Evidence Support Its Use?
Published online 2015 May 14. doi: 10.1007/s10879-014-9292-x
Denise M. Sloan,
Alice T. Sawyer, Sara E. Lowmaster, Jeremy Wernick, and Brian P. Marx
Although a number of effective psychotherapies for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are available, there is a need to develop alternative treatments for those who may not respond optimally to these treatments or who may not have access to clinicians who can competently deliver them. Narrative writing, which involves repeated recounting about a traumatic event in writing, is one treatment that deserves further examination as a potential alternative. In this paper, we describe the most commonly used narrative writing treatment protocols for those with either a diagnosis of PTSD or probable PTSD and discuss the available efficacy data for each of these protocols. We conclude with recommendations for using narrative writing to treat those with PTSD and offer recommendations for future work in this area.
Effects of directed written disclosure on grief and distress symptoms among bereaved individuals.
Death Stud. 2010 Jul;34(6):475-99.
Bereavement-specific written disclosure trials have generally demonstrated null effects, but these studies have not directed the focus of writing. This randomized controlled trial compared directed writing that focused on either sense-making or benefit-finding, both associated with adjustment to loss, to traditional, non-directed emotional disclosure and a control condition. Bereaved undergraduates (n = 68) completed three 20-min writing sessions over 1 week. Intervention effects were found on prolonged grief disorder, depressive, and posttraumatic stress symptoms 3 months postintervention, and the benefit-finding condition appeared particularly efficacious. Physical health improved over time in all treatment groups. Findings suggested that directing written disclosure on topics associated with adjustment to bereavement may be useful for grieving individuals.
Writing therapy: a new tool for general practice?
Br J Gen Pract. 2012 Dec; 62(605): 661–663.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3505408/full text https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3505408/
Therapeutic Writing links 