研究已表明:寫下自己的情緒有利於減少壓力和焦慮
The next time you feel stressed out, you may want to dig up your old journal. I've personally experienced the therapeutic effects of writing as others may have, but studies also show that expressing your emotions on paper can help reduce stress and anxiety and even ease trauma. Dr. James W. Pennebaker, liberal arts professor and executive director at The University of Texas at Austin, has conducted research on the benefits of expressive writing, "writing about thoughts and feelings that arise from a traumatic or stressful life experience," according to Harvard Health Publications.
下一次感到備受壓力時，你可以選擇翻開舊的日記本。我已親身體驗到寫作帶來的治療效果，可能其他人也體驗過，但研究還表明在紙上書寫自己的情感有助於減少壓力和焦慮、甚至能撫平創傷。德克薩斯大學奧斯汀分校的文學教授兼執行董事詹姆斯·W·賓貝克博士已開展了研究，研究表達性寫作的益處，"寫下由創傷或壓力引起的情感和思緒，"哈佛健康出版社表示。
In one of his studies, 46 healthy college students were asked to write about either traumatic life events they've experienced or random topics for 15 minutes, four days straight. Students who wrote about their personally traumatic experiences made fewer visits to the campus health centre and reduced their use of pain relievers over the six months that followed.
在他的一項研究中，研究員要求46位健康的大學生寫下他們經歷過的創傷性生活事件，或隨便寫個話題，連續四天，每天寫15分鐘。接下來的六個月，那些寫下個人創傷經歷的學生去校健康中心的次數減少了，使用止痛藥的次數也同樣減少了。
More recent studies have looked at the effects of writing on reducing stress and anxiety. One of them showed that gay men felt less "stigma-related stress" with the help of this technique, while another proved its benefits on caregivers with chronic stress. Researchers at the University of Chicago also found that anxious students who briefly wrote about their feelings before taking an important exam actually earned better grades than those who didn't participate.
新的研究着重觀察寫作對減少壓力和焦慮的影響。其中一項研究表明：有了該技能的幫助，同性戀男士減少了"恥辱感壓力"，而另一項研究則證明：它能給照顧慢性病的看護人員帶來益處。芝加哥大學的研究人員還發現：相比沒有參與該項目的學生，那些在考試前粗略寫下自己焦慮心情學生取得了更好的成績。
The writing format generally asks the person to write nonstop for a certain amount of time each day about a personally stressful or traumatic event. The reason writing has the ability to reduce negative feelings goes beyond simply being able to come to terms with the experience. The act of writing involves thinking about the experience and expressing your emotions about it, therefore giving meaning to it. In addition, expressive writing may help the writer better manage their emotions or, as an intellectual process, forces them to turn the event into a constructive story instead of dwelling on those thoughts. Those who write down their stress or trauma are also more likely to open up to others about it, which can serve as an additional form of healing.
寫作格式通常要求人們每天不斷的寫一會兒個人壓力或創傷事件。寫作能夠減少負面情緒的原因不僅僅在於它能讓人們安於這種經歷。而且寫作這一行爲還包含了對此次經歷的思考、表達了自己的情緒，因此是有意義的。除此之外，表達性寫作也許有利於作者更好的管理自己的情緒，或者作爲一種智力過程，寫作會迫使他們將該事件轉變爲建設性的故事，而不是總在追思負面情緒。那些寫下自己壓力或創傷感受的人們也很有可能願意對他人敞開心扉，這也是治癒的另一種方式。
