研究已表明:写下自己的情绪有利于减少压力和焦虑

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.

下一次感到备受压力时，你可以选择翻开旧的日记本。我已亲身体验到写作带来的治疗效果，可能其他人也体验过，但研究还表明在纸上书写自己的情感有助于减少压力和焦虑、甚至能抚平创伤。德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校的文学教授兼执行董事詹姆斯·W·宾贝克博士已开展了研究，研究表达性写作的益处，"写下由创伤或压力引起的情感和思绪，"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.

在他的一项研究中，研究员要求46位健康的大学生写下他们经历过的创伤性生活事件，或随便写个话题，连续四天，每天写15分钟。接下来的六个月，那些写下个人创伤经历的学生去校健康中心的次数减少了，使用止痛药的次数也同样减少了。

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.

新的研究着重观察写作对减少压力和焦虑的影响。其中一项研究表明：有了该技能的帮助，同性恋男士减少了"耻辱感压力"，而另一项研究则证明：它能给照顾慢性病的看护人员带来益处。芝加哥大学的研究人员还发现：相比没有参与该项目的学生，那些在考试前粗略写下自己焦虑心情学生取得了更好的成绩。

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.

写作格式通常要求人们每天不断的写一会儿个人压力或创伤事件。写作能够减少负面情绪的原因不仅仅在于它能让人们安于这种经历。而且写作这一行为还包含了对此次经历的思考、表达了自己的情绪，因此是有意义的。除此之外，表达性写作也许有利于作者更好的管理自己的情绪，或者作为一种智力过程，写作会迫使他们将该事件转变为建设性的故事，而不是总在追思负面情绪。那些写下自己压力或创伤感受的人们也很有可能愿意对他人敞开心扉，这也是治愈的另一种方式。