How Journaling Can Positively Impact Your Physical Health by:Patti Testerman

According to the Journal of the American Medical Association

, writing about stressful life events helped reduce symptoms of asthma and rheumatoid arthritis in patients with these chronic illnesses. The effects of the writing exercise were still evident four months later and resulted in clinically meaningful improvements in patient symptoms.

Interestingly, studies showed that asthma patients who wrote about their most stressful life events showed a 19-percent improvement in lung function; similarly, rheumatoid arthritis patients had a 28-percent reduction in symptoms.

These findings add to a growing body of evidence that links mental and emotional health to physical well-being. Although researchers aren't sure exactly how expressive writing can lead to health improvements, they theorize that writing help people cope with stress, and stressas well all knowclearly impacts health.

University of Texas at Austin psychologist and researcher James Pennebaker believes that regular journaling strengthens immune cells, called T-lymphocytes. He theorizes that writing about stressful events helps you come to terms with them, thus reducing the impact of these stressors on your physical health.

Louise Moran, a nurse coordinator, has written about a patient who, during a serious illness, sent daily e-mails to friends and family about her illness, a practice the woman believes played a pivotal role in her healing process. Moran said another patient felt that journaling helped her create a new life after breast cancer. There have even been studies suggesting that journaling in healthy people actually improves the immune system.

About the author

Patti Testerman is content manager at JournalGenie.com, the only online site that analyzes your writing and then gives you instant feedback. Want to discover self-defeating patterns, or find better ways to communicate in a relationship? Check out our site.

patti@journalgenie.com

POST COMMENT

Journaling for Health: Five Techniques for Wellness by:Patti Testerman Dental Hygiene, an Ancient Practice - The History of the Toothbrush by:Rebecca Blain Some Straight Talk About Low-Carbohydrates and Your Health by:Rick Trojan Food that's good for a healthy heart by:Nitin Jain The Sweat Stops Here by:Adrian Richards MBBS, MSc, FRCS (Plast) How To Keep Cool In Summer by:Brian Fogarty Boost The Immune System The Natural Way - Part 2 by:David McEvoy Alcohol : How Badly Can It Affect CFS Sufferers? by:Claire Williams Focus Your Light: Earning Money From Home When You Have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome /Fibromyalgia by:Claire Williams Become an LPN, the fast path to a nursing career. by:Max Stein How to Fight Cancer and Win - A Book Review by:David Snape You Can Lose Weight on a High Carbohydrate Diet by:David Snape Can Eating Certain Foods Help You to Lose Weight? by:David Snape