We all know how easily a kind word can brighten our moods and how easily a hateful word, or even just a thoughtless one, can hurt deeply.
Words are powerful.
But, if anything, we underestimate just how important words are and how helpful it is to put our experiences into words. In brief, simply writing about a past trauma for 30 minutes during each of four days even when no one reads the material results in fewer visits to doctors in the next semester, more success in finding work, less emotional distress, and favorable changes in physiological markers of health. For example, engineers downsized without warning after reporting for work on a Monday morning experienced festering anger, depression, and self doubt. Pennebaker suggests that the process of putting past trauma into words has the effect of giving people the opportunity to gain a greater understanding of themselves and their experiences. With the greater understanding people seem able to live more effectively.