a lot of the people I work with start writing and they see amazing changes in
their mental and emotional state but why is that stay tuned as we dive into that
topic and stay tuned until the end of the video because I have an exciting
announcement what's up everybody this is Chris from the rewired soul where we
talk about the problem but focus on the solution today we're gonna be talking
about the therapeutic value of writing so me personally I've just always
naturally been a writer I didn't really discover this until my first and only
semester of college but yeah I've just always been a natural writer and it's
always been very therapeutic to me but now there's a lot of research that backs
it up and through my clients experiences of the drug and alcohol rehab I work out
I see it happening before my eyes all the time so let me introduce you to this
guy that is dr. James Pennebaker all right he is a psychologist he's done a
lot of research about writing and the therapeutic value behind it so first it
took two groups one group was tasked with writing everyday for about 15
minutes and the other group did not and what they did was they took their blood
samples and also measured their emotional and mental states what they
found was after two weeks the people who had been writing not only did they have
increased white blood cell count so they were less likely to get sick but they
also saw decreases in anxiety and depression so dr. James Pennebaker did
some more research on this and he wanted to figure out what it was about the
writing that was actually so therapeutic now one of the key things to this is
that you have to use personal pronouns when writing that's when people saw the
greatest effects so personal pronouns and the first person things like I me my
things of that nature now one of the reasons this is so therapeutic is
because it is such an emotional release so the way I kind of explain it to my
clients is that inside of our heads if you struggle with mental illness this is
our worst enemy and it's almost like when you're like in your car with the
windows rolled up and a flies don't all crazy all over the place that
is your crazy thoughts whether it's anxious thoughts worries about the
future or regrets from the past and your mind won't stop racing or it could be
depression it could be those negative thoughts about either the future or
negative self-talk or lack of motivation all those things that run through your
head but this is also very effective for anybody who has struggled with trauma
they did a lot of research about this when it came to trauma victims whether
it was physical sexual abuse I'm also War veterans they had him started
writing and they saw this massive decrease in anxious thoughts as well as
depression for some people it's easier for them to verbalize it for but for
other people especially those who don't like opening up to others writing is the
best way that you can do this and I'm telling you I have worked with hundreds
and hundreds and hundreds of clients who I tell them from day one I'm like you
all get a journal write in it write in it right in it and they come up to me
the next day like they just found like the Fountain of Youth they're like oh my
god Chris like I did not realize it would work this well and a lot of people
just have the same experience you start to get clarity and you start to release
all these thoughts in your head what I want to make very clear to is that it
doesn't have to be perfect writing like most of the time nobody's ever even
going to read it so don't worry about spelling or grammar or anything like
that like people are basically just free writing there are times where I'm just
going nuts and I'm more of a type er than a writer because my writing is
pretty sloppy but sometimes I will just open up a word document and just start
free writing and just getting all those emotions and thoughts out they help
immensely so now for the exciting news November is National Novel Writing Month
and what we have done myself and a few of the other creators we have made a
Facebook group that I want you to join now there's a few things about this
everybody has a story to share a lot of people have been wanting to write
something but haven't and this is a group that we made to support one
another as well as have personal accountability for example just writing
a thousand words a day to work on this thing so if you're interested in that
check the description below because I have a link to our Facebook group so
come join us but as I mentioned in this video the therapeutic value of writing
is just amazing so I will also extend this offer to you if you just want to do
10 to 15 minutes of writing a day just a place where you can come talk about that
therapeutic value and also just a place where you're held accountable and you
can help support others who are doing this as well so this is my challenge to
you during the month of November write every day for 10 to 15 minutes and the
best way that you can do this is by developing a schedule whether it's every
morning before you get ready and go to work or to school or wherever it is or
in the evenings at the end of your day just 10 to 15 minutes free writing so
make sure you check out our Facebook group that's in the link in the
description below if you like this video give it a thumbs up but I also want to
slip in a question of the day have you started journaling have you ever written
your thoughts down before and how has it helped you leave your comments down
below if you're new here thanks for watching make sure you hit the little
brown subscribe button I'm always making videos to help you improve your mental
health and I do videos without addiction and mental illness and to the left of me
you can check out some of my other awesome videos on this channel so thanks
again for watching and I'll see you next time