Writing It Out: What Expressive Writing Can Do for Stress

After a rough day, many people feel better after talking it out. Researchers have wondered whether writing can do something similar. The answer is a modest yes, with some important cautions. This is general education, not medical advice, and writing is not a substitute for professional care.

Where the idea came from

In the 1980s, psychologist James Pennebaker asked people to write about stressful or emotional experiences for about 15 to 20 minutes over several days, and compared them with people who wrote about neutral topics. The technique became known as expressive writing, and hundreds of studies have followed.

Pooling 146 studies

In 2006, Kristin Frattaroli published a meta-analysis in Psychological Bulletin of 146 randomized studies. Across them, expressive writing had a small but statistically significant average benefit on measures of psychological and physical health (an average effect of about r = .075). Some points stood out:

• The benefits were small, and results varied widely from study to study.
• Psychological benefits looked larger when follow-up was shorter.
• Some summaries found stronger effects in groups under higher stress, though those analyses involved few studies.

Keeping expectations realistic

• It is a small effect, not a cure for anxiety, depression or trauma.
• It can feel worse before it feels better. Writing about painful experiences can stir up difficult emotions in the short term.
• It is not for everyone. If you are dealing with trauma, grief or persistent low mood, a licensed professional can offer far more than a notebook can.

Trying it gently

• Set aside 15 to 20 minutes in a private, quiet place, a few days in a row if you wish.
• Write freely about a stressful event and how you felt, without worrying about spelling or style.
• Stop if it becomes overwhelming, and take a walk, call a friend or do a calming exercise such as the ones in our guide to breathing exercises for stress.
• Mix in the positive. Our guide to gratitude journaling covers a lighter kind of writing, and a bedtime to-do list can quiet a busy mind at night.

Disclosure: your free, private Weight Wire journal is one place to write, and our look at why it is good to keep a food journal explains a different kind of journaling. The journal is our tool, and it was not part of the research above.

Sources

• Frattaroli J. Experimental disclosure and its moderators: a meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 2006;132(6):823-865 (figures from the abstract and secondary summaries; the average effect is reported as r = .075).
• Pennebaker JW, Beall SK. Confronting a traumatic event: toward an understanding of inhibition and disease. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1986.