Using Writing To Deal With Negative Feelings

As a writer you choose what you share with others. Some pieces of writing may be for your eyes only. This means you are free to play around with different ways of expressing yourself. Perhaps the process is more important than the end product. Writing can also be a form of therapy. It can provide a way of sorting through negative feelings and inner conflict that have been weighing you down. How can you use writing to help yourself emotionally? Why can it be beneficial?

The benefits of expressing negative feelings
Voicing destructive feelings instead of bottling them up lowers blood pressure and reduces your heart rate. It slows your breathing. All this leads to a more relaxed state. Your physical and mental health will benefit.

Sorting through your feelings
You may not want to confront someone who has upset you. You may even feel unsure why you are so upset as what was said wasn’t an outright attack. Maybe something that another party did or didn’t do is what is bugging you. There may be lots of confusion in your mind. Perhaps you suspect part or even most of the problem is your vulnerability and over sensitivity. Still you feel hurt and upset and need to work through your emotions so you can get on with living.

Expressing your emotions in writing can help you sort through your thoughts and make sense of them. Because this writing is for you only to see you can write whatever you choose. Then you can rip it all into tiny pieces or burn it to show yourself you are over it.

Forms of writing
How can you put your jumbled thoughts and feelings into writing so you can make sense of them? If you are using writing as personal therapy try to write continuously without worrying about spelling or grammar. Remind yourself your high school English teacher is never going to see this.

You may choose to use dot points. There is no need to use capital letters, full stops or proper sentences. You can use as many exclamation marks as you want.

Perhaps you want to write on a large piece of paper in felt tip pen and add some drawings, even if they are just stick figures. You can use coloured pens.

Perhaps you will find it easier if you express yourself in the form of a letter. You can destroy it once you have finished writing.

You could write a poem. Another idea is to incorporate your feelings into the first draft of a short story.

What if you still feel wronged?
Once you have finished writing and things are clearer in your mind you may decide there is an issue which needs addressing. You will have a clearer idea of what the core issue is. Now you have defined the major grievance you may decide to talk to the person or people involved to clear the air.

Using writing to sort out negative feelings and hurt can be viewed as decluttering for the mind. One feels better after a session of sorting through material possessions, parting with broken items and those no longer of use. Sorting out and disposing negative mind clutter also feels good.

#_coping_mechanism
#_emotions
#_feelings
#_inner_conflict
#_life
#_negative
#_therapy
#_writing


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