The Benefits of Daily Writing on Mental Health – by Ryan Rivera

Back in high school I was somewhat of a crammer. I wasn't really wild about the idea of studying when I didn't need to study, so I decided to do what most procrastinators do – I stayed up 16 hours the day before the test, read through the entire book, took the test and forgot everything I had learned.

Considering cramming is possibly the worst method of studying for any test, I still did fairly well. But by the time I reached college and my classes were considerable more difficult, I couldn't afford to cram anymore. Unfortunately, with so much time wasted not learning good study habits, I had to find my own.

After a considerable amount of trial and error, I found success with one study method completely on accident. In one of my classes I had rushed through note taking to the point where my notes were a complete mess, and a beautiful young lady asked me if she could borrow them to study before the test. Since I knew she wouldn’t be able to read my handwriting, I rewrote all of my notes in nicer handwriting, using more complete language.

By the time I was done and I started studying on my own, I realized that I knew almost all of the content for the class already. The mere act of recopying the notes into different words had caused my brain to remember them. It was with that in mind that I started learning more about the ways that writing can affect the brain, and eventually I came up with the following list of ways that it appears writing can improve mental health:

• Positive Thinking

I found that if people challenge themselves to write out (not think, but write) as many positive things they can think of that came as a result of any event, they began to think more positively in the future. Presumably it is because their minds started trying to find the positives in order to make sure that they had something to write about. Since positive thinking decreases depression and anxiety and improves overall health and wellbeing, the results can be pretty powerful.

• Floating Thoughts

Sleep is such an important part of living with good mental health, and yet sometimes it seems that your mind keeps you awake against your will. One of the reasons for this is because your brain often has random, assorted thoughts that it wants you to remember. If you write out your thoughts on a piece of paper, it tells your brain "it's okay – even if I don't remember, I'll have it on this piece of paper" and your brain stops focusing on them and lets you sleep.

• Anger Management

One of the single most frustrating things in life is to be upset or angry and have no way to vent it. When you let it sit in your mind it can become an incredibly consuming cause of anxiety, until ultimately your body becomes profoundly stressed. Writing it out – no matter how graphic or angry the thoughts may be – can be a tremendous help. Now, you'll know that you'll never forget the words you want to say if you ever have the opportunity to say them, and that will allow you to calm down much more quickly.

• Memory

As I mentioned earlier, I found that rewriting notes, for example, helped to improve my memory of what I learned in class. I often find in my travels that those that struggle to remember things – like names, or events, or their own past – find themselves more frustrated and anxious, presumably because of the stress they're putting on their brains trying to recall the memory. Writing things down and occasionally rewriting them later can have a very powerful impact on your ability to cope with these types of stresses.

• Using Your Words as an Inspirational Tool

The WordQ software from goQ can reduce your anxiety as well. Not only does it help you learn better writing and proofreading skills (which can improve the anxiety you get from writing) – it can also be used as a tool to improve your mood. You can have it read aloud some of the positive thoughts you wrote earlier so that you can hear what you have to say about the good things in your life in your own words. WordQ software may be designed as a learning and educational tool, but it certainly has other benefits as well.

Writing as a Mental Health Cure

Writing is more than simply a form of self-expression, or a way to entertain yourself or others. Writing can actually affect the mind as well. Writing is a skill that directly affects the brain, and if you struggle from mental health issues or you simply want to get more sleep, it seems to me that writing is one of the first activities you should try.

About the Author: Ryan Rivera is now a writer and an anxiety activist. He provides more in depth information about anxiety at www.calmclinic.com.