Why Personal Blogs Rule!

While surfing through blogs today, I stumbled upon the following informative entry at The Psychology of Combating Stress, Depression & Addiction blog.

The personal reflection and exploration of journaling can be extremely beneficial for your health, according to researchers from the University of Texas.

"Research suggests that when people write about emotional upheavals in their lives, improvements in physical and psychological health can result," said James W. Pennebaker, chair of the department of Psychology.

By enabling clearer thinking, expressive writing helps individuals get past trauma. It also helps them improve their social relationships as they get better at talking, laughing and being more at ease with others, Pennebaker said.

Through writing, people are able to observe their patterns of behavior and how they handle various situations, said George Holmes, a psychologist at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine.

"If you have to write something, you have to sit down, reflect on the events, put them in some kind of order," he said. "And as you're doing that, there's a certain level of mastery of the situation or anxiety that occurs."

What a great incentive to keep writing about our life experiences and how we react to them. I am certainly not surprised to read something along the lines of the above. For me, writing down what I have experienced has been my outlet.

When I first felt like I was losing touch with myself, my feelings and my emotions, I put pen to paper virtually straight away (although maybe it would be more correct to say that I put fingers to keyboard). I have been journaling in some form or another for well over a year now. Sometimes I worry that I write far too frankly or far too darkly, especially for such a forum as an online personal blog, however without writing I doubt I would be where I am today. Perhaps I wouldn't have reclaimed the parts of myself that I have. I certainly wouldn't have been able to express what I am feeling. Things are still tough, especially at the moment, but thankfully, because of personal journaling, I have at least made some headway.

So, here's to blogging, and in particular personal blogging!