Dateline: 08/04/99
Have you ever written an email, bulletin board post or letter about something bothering you, and
after you were finished, felt...well, a bit better about the whole situation? You weren't imagining
it...the act of writing about stressful events and situations can actually have a positive impact on
your health.
A few months ago, a
study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that some
patients with chronic diseases had improvements in their health after writing about major life
stresses, such as car accidents or the death of a close friend or relative. The study looked at 112
patients. Each patient spent an hour each day writing, and four months after the study began,
almost half of those who wrote about their stresses had experienced significant improvement in
their health.
The benefits of "downloading" your concerns and stresses, whether by writing as a journal, or
sharing your personal experiences with others who can relate via a bulletin board, like the Thyroid Disease Forum, is a natural stress
reduction activity. Reducing stress has definite health benefits, particularly when it comes to the
autoimmune reactions that are part of Graves' Disease or Hashimoto's Thyroiditis.
What scientists call "expressive writing" not only gives your mind a place to unload stressful
concerns or worried, it can also be a relaxation, or peaceful activity, that also helps to reduce
stress by calming down your system and allowing you to focus better.
Try it right now! Drop me a note right now about how you feel about your thyroid
disease, or other stresses in your life! Or write about it in the space below. . .
Writing about my own thyroid disease has been something that gives me energy, solace, and
helps me to continue in my own efforts to live better and live well. I don't know what I'd do
without writing, and I highly recommend it as part of your own arsenal of ways to live well. The
writing I do here at the About.com Thyroid Website and for my new book on hypothyroidism has been incredibly therapeutic in my own path to wellness.
Resources to Get You Started Writing for Wellness...
Free Book Information
Talk About It!
Free Newsletters
Subscribe to my About.com Thyroid
Site Newsletter, for frequent updates about everything going on here at the site!
Subscribe here!
