Stressed? Write more, express more, and blog often
In february, the Oncologist, an international peer-review journal for practising oncologist and hematologist, issued an article about a study reports that cancer patients who engaged in expressive writings just before treatment felt better mentally and physically as compared with those who did not. Self - medication may be the reason blogging has taken off. Writers and Scientists have long known about the therapeutic benefits of writing about personal feelings, thoughts and experiences. Expressive writing can serve as a stress-coping mechanism. And Don’t be surprised if it produces many physiological benefits. Researchers report that it improves memory and sleep, and even speeds healing after surgery. 
Alice Flaherty, a neuroscientist from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University mentions the placebo theory of suffering is one window through which to view blogging. As social creatures, humans have range of pain-related behaviors, such as complaining, which acts as a placebo for getting satisfied. Blogging about stressful experiences might work similarly. Scientists now hope to explore the neurological underpinnings at play, especially considering the explosion of blogs.
Studies on hypergraphia (an uncontrollable urge to write) and writer’s block are models to explain the drive behind this mode of communication. For example, people with mania often talk too much. It is believed that something in brain’s limbic system is boosting the desire to communicate. Limbic system is located mainly in the midbrain. It controls our drives, whether they are related to appetite, food, problem solving or even to sex. Study shows that blogging might trigger dopamine release, similar to stimulants like musics, looking at paintings or jogging. The frontal and temporal lobes which govern speech may also involve in. For example, people with Wernicke’s aphasia speak excessively and loss of language comprehension. They often speak in gibberish but often write constantly. Activity in this area could foster the urge to blog.
Recent functional magnetic resonance imaging studies by a team of University of Texas at Austion led by James Pennebaker, reveals that brain lights up differently before, during and after writing. However, they remain skeptical about the results because of hard to duplicate and quantify. Most likely, writing activates a cluster of neurological pathways. And the team is continuing to investigate the link between expressive writing and biological changes, such as improved sleep.
Some hosipitals have started hosting patient-authored blogs on their website as the therapeutic values are more recognized. Unlike a bedside journal, blogging offers the added benefit of receptive readers in similar situations. Blogging undoubtedly affords similar benefits to expressive writing. Individuals are connecting to one another and witnessing each other’s expressions, as the basis for forming a community.
so, write more, express more and blog often!
