Can Creative Writing Ease Anxiety? 4 Startling Ways It Can
Can creative writing really help us deal with anxiety?
Creative writing activities have always been my space to make sense of what's going on. The thrill and the complete comfort of a blank page have helped and healed me more times than I can count. The reliability and the space that my glowing screen provides are some things I can never measure. Let me tell you how.
Creative Writing and Anxiety
Scientific evidence shows the many benefits of writing things down.
Well documented is The power of the pen. These benefits lend themselves to creative writing too. Not only can it bring more joy and gratitude, but there is also so much potential for mindfulness, escape and enjoyment. All of these things can help us deal with anxiety healthily.
A recent study showed that participating in just forty-five minutes of art can significantly reduce stress in the body. When I feel anxious or stressed, sometimes the last thing I feel like doing is reaching for a pen or flipping my laptop open. But there are many reasons why this is exactly what we should be doing. Why is that?
Discovering 4 Startling Ways Creative Writing Can Ease Anxiety
1 - Creative writing can provide an escape.
Writing propels us into new worlds. Lifting us from the very space we occupy, transporting us to new places and unfamiliar destinations. Creative writing can transition us into a state of flow.
Flow can be described as, reaching a state where we are so engaged in what we are doing, a state where time and space seem to cease to exist. When we reach this state, we can truly allow our minds to switch off from other anxieties, even if it's only temporary, it can give us the respite we need. But there is more.
2 - Creative writing can provide a space for reflection.
By giving ourselves space to notice our anxiety, we are more likely to identify the exact triggers. We can put distance between ourselves and the overwhelming feelings we might be experiencing by writing them down.
Tim Ferriss talks about this as 'fear-setting' when we write our worries down, the space we create for them on the page allows us to look at them differently. Dissecting them and holding parts of them up to the light for closer inspection. We can identify strategies and solutions that we might not have otherwise seen.
Creative writing provides this space for reflection, even if it is subconscious. Our stories so often say the things we cannot, our characters sometimes face our greatest fears, and in writing all of this down, we can ease the weight of their unknowns. And there is more.
3 - Creative writing can provide a release for emotions and feelings.
A blank page or a new story can be the perfect place to explore how we feel.
Evidence shows that writing about difficult emotions and feelings can lead to the development of greater resilience. The more resilience we develop, the more we can create coping strategies and tools to protect ourselves from anxiety and overwhelming experiences. Resilience also helps us to maintain balance at times of elevated stress.
The act of creating something physical is also a way to expel the extra energy so often produced by anxiety, and this can be a great release. The final reason is critical to grasp.
4 - Creative writing can provide a way for you to be in control.
You are in control of your story. Often anxiety can stem from a feeling of a lack of control. When we craft stories, we get to decide the ending. We can edit and tweak, twist and change. We are in complete control.
Having feelings of control, even if it is over our fictional ideas, allows us to ground ourselves. There are some things we can control and things we choose; it's vital to grab onto those things when we can. Grounding helps us deal with anxiety by providing structure and constants.
Where Do You Start With Creative Writing for Anxiety?
We know the benefits of creative writing and realise we need to make sure we are carving out time for it. But where do we start? Often this feels like it's the last thing on our list to do, but it is so vital we prioritise writing time, to help deal with anxieties.
Creative Freewriting
Freewriting can be a great place to start. Freewriting, by its very definition, should be free from strict rules or guidance. Set a timer for five minutes and write down all the things that are swimming in your head; worries, ideas, something you are grateful for, plans and lists.
If you can, increase the timer to ten minutes, or twenty. Always start by emptying your brain of these thoughts and then who knows where you might end up.
You could start freewriting about a new character, or a world you are building, or you could end up writing a new scene or a new chapter. This sort of writing shouldn't be about us putting more pressure on ourselves; it should be about freeing the anxiety and worries that might even be subconsciously moving across our thoughts.
Your Story Matters Now, More Than Ever.
I believe in you and your stories, and they matter. Keep writing and keep using it as a place to empty the worries that circle in your head. The page has no judgement, just space and reflection, and that makes me feel instantly better.
“I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.”
At a time when the world seems uncertain, spinning slowly out of control, it can feel frivolous, cheap or even audacious to take time for ourselves and our writing, but it is so vital that we keep telling our stories and keep sharing the words on our hearts.
The world needs stories now, more than ever. To escape, to find joy, the total absorption of new worlds and other lives just with the flip of a page. Yet it's not only readers that need stories, as writers it is so important, but we also keep writing.
To read more of my writing you can purchase my book below.
The Writer's Cookbook first published this post. You can read it here.
Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash
