Writing about a troubling experience may help a little; do not treat it as medical care
Expressive writing has a small average benefit in some analyses, but findings differ and two reviews found no significant effect. It costs little and can be tried, but should not replace care for serious emotional problems.
What it takes
Free. Studies commonly used 3–4 sessions of 15–20 minutes, writing about a distressing event and your deepest thoughts and feelings.
What you may gain
A meta-analysis of 146 randomized studies of writing or speaking about personally important experiences found a positive, statistically significant but very small average effect, r=.075. Another review limited to randomized controlled trials combined 30 studies and found no significant physical- or mental-health benefit. A third pooled 16 randomized trials in cancer patients and survivors and found no significant psychological, physical or quality-of-life benefit; the psychological estimate was g=0.04, 95% CI −0.06 to 0.14.
Context & considerations
The supportive 146-study review found only a tiny effect; the two other randomized-trial reviews did not find significant effects. Session frequency and length come from the early experimental design described in Mogk's abstract. Writing is inexpensive, brief and possible alone, including when you do not want to talk or have no one available. Energy was not measured; its placement under time is the author's classification. If writing makes you increasingly distressed, stop and call 12356 in China.
Research & references
Frattaroli J (2006). Experimental disclosure and its moderators: a meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.6.823 ; Mogk C, Otte S, Reinhold-Hurley B, Kröner-Herwig B (2006). Health effects of expressive writing on stressful or traumatic experiences - a meta-analysis. Psycho-Social Medicine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2736499/ ; Zachariae R, O'Toole MS (2015). The effect of expressive writing intervention on psychological and physical health outcomes in cancer patients--a systematic review and meta-analysis. Psycho-Oncology. https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.3802