Moreover, greater improvement in immunological functioning was found for those participants who wrote about previously undisclosed events rather than stressful events that had previously been discussed with others. Similar benefits were enjoyed by spouses of suicide and accidental-death victims. Results showed that the more these volunteers had discussed their spouse's death with friends and loved ones, and the less they had ruminated on the tragic events, the fewer the health problems they reported. Importantly, this effect did not depend on the number of friends the spouses reported having. Rather than being a function of the availability of social support, these benefits seem to be a function of confession.
Inhibition is hard work.
Confiding, talking, and writing about an event, on the other hand, provides meaning and a new understanding. Language itself may help in this regard. What were previously harrowing images are often reduced to a comparatively small set of words. Finally, confession helps to externalize an event. By writing in a diary or confiding to a friend we are able to distance ourselves somewhat from a traumatic event.