Health-related effects of creative and expressive writing

Health Education

Volumn 106, Issue 1, 2006, Pages 60-70

  Lowe, Geoff ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF HULL   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Creative writing; Poetry; Post traumatic stress disorders

Indexed keywords

EID: 31144465287     PISSN: 09654283     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1108/09654280610637201     Document Type: Review

References (42)

1. Allen, R.K. (1993), "Poetry as a health care management tool", Journal of Poetry Therapy, Vol. 6, pp. 229-43.
2. Bolton, G. (1999), The Therapeutic Potential of Creative Writing: Writing Myself, Jessica Kingsley, London.
3. Bolton, G., Howlett, S., Lago, C. and Wright, J. (2004), Writing Cures: An Introductory Handbook of Writing in Counselling and Therapy, Brunner-Routledge, Hove and New York, NY.
4. Booth, R.J., Petrie, K.J. and Pennebaker, J.W. (1997), "Changes in circulating lymphocyte numbers following emotional disclosure: Evidence of buffering?", Stress Medicine, Vol. 13, pp. 23-9.
5. Burton, C.M. and King, L.A. (2004), "The health benefits of writing about intensely positive experiences", Journal of Research in Personality, Vol. 38, pp. 150-63.
6. Cameron, L.D. and Nicholls, G. (1998), "Expression of stressful experiences through writing: effects of a self-regulation manipulation for pessimists and optimists", Health Psychology, Vol. 17, pp. 84-92.
7. Danner, D.D., Snowdon, D.A. and Friesen, W.V. (2001), "Positive emotions in early life and longevity: findings from the Nun Study", Personality Processes and Individual Differences, Vol. 80, pp. 804-13.
8. De Salvo, L. (1999), Writing as a Way of Healing, The Women's Press, London.
9. Esterling, B.A., L'Abate, L., Murray, E.J. and Pennebaker, J.W. (1999), "Empirical foundations for writing in prevention and psychotherapy: Mental and physical health outcomes", Clinical Psychology Review, Vol. 19, pp. 79-96.
10. Esterling, B.A., Antoni, M., Fletcher, M., Marguiles, S. and Schneiderman, N. (1994), "Emotional disclosure through writing or speaking modulates Epstein-Barr virus antibody titres", Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Vol. 10, pp. 334-50.
11. Francis, M.E. and Pennebaker, J.W. (1992), "Putting stress into words: The impact of writing on physiological, absentee, and self-reported emotional well-being measures", American Journal of Health Promotion, Vol. 6, pp. 280-7.
12. Gidron, Y., Peri, T., Connolly, J.F. and Shalev, A.Y. (1996), "Written disclosure in post-traumatic stress disorder: is it beneficial for the patient?", Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, Vol. 184, pp. 505-7.
13. Greenberg, M.A., Wortman, C.B. and Stone, A.A. (1996), "Emotional expression and physical health: Revising traumatic memories or fostering self-regulation?", Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 71, pp. 588-602.
14. Hunt, C. and Sampson, F. (1998), The Self on the Page, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London.
15. Jamison, K.R. (1989), "Mood disorders and seasonal patterns in British writers and artists", British Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 52, pp. 125-34.
16. King, L.A. and Miner, K.N. (2000), "Writing about the perceived benefits of traumatic events: implications for physical health", Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 26, pp. 220-30.
17. Lepore, S.J. (1997), "Expressive writing moderates the relation between intrusive thoughts and depressive symptoms", Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 7, pp. 1030-7.
18. Lepore, S.J. and Smyth, J.M. (2002), The Writing Cure, American Psychological Association, Washington, DC.
19. Lowe, G. (2004), "Cognitive psychology and the biomedical foundations of writing therapy", in Bolton, G., Howlett, S., Lago, C. and Wright, J. (Eds), Writing Cures: An Introductory Handbook of Writing in Counselling and Therapy, Brunner-Routledge, Hove and New York, NY.
20. Lowe, G., Beckett, J. and Lowe, G.M. (2003), "Poetry writing and secretory immunoglobulin A", Psychological Reports, Vol. 92, pp. 847-8.
21. McArdle, S. and Byrt, R. (2001), "Fiction, poetry and mental health: expressive and therapeutic uses of literature", Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, Vol. 8, pp. 517-24.
22. MacDuff, C. and West, B. (2002), "Developing the use of poetry within healthcare culture", British Journal of Nursing, Vol. 11, pp. 335-41.
23. Meyer, T. and Mark, M. (1995), "Effects of psychosocial interventions with adult cancer patients: a meta-analysis of randomized experiments", Health Psychology, Vol. 14, pp. 101-8.
24. Njus, D.M., Nitschke, W. and Bryant, F.B. (1996), "Positive affect, negative affect, and the moderating effect of writing on s-IgA antibody levels", Psychology and Health, Vol. 12, pp. 135-48.
25. Pennebaker, J.W. (1989), "Confession, inhibition, and disease", in Berkowitz, L. (Ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Vol. 22, Academic Press, New York, NY, pp. 211-44.
26. Pennebaker, J.W. (1993), "Putting stress into words: health, linguistic, and therapeutic implications", Behavioral Research Therapy, Vol. 31, pp. 539-48.
27. Pennebaker, J.W. (1997a), "Writing about emotional experiences as a therapeutic process", Psychological Science, Vol. 8, pp. 162-6.
28. Pennebaker, J.W. (1997b), Opening Up: The Healing Power of Expressing Emotions, Guilford Press, New York, NY.
29. Pennebaker, J.W. and Francis, M.E. (1996), "Cognitive, emotional, and language processes in disclosure", Cognition and Emotion, Vol. 10, pp. 601-26.
30. Pennebaker, J.W. and Seagal, J.D. (1999), "Forming a story: the health benefits of narrative", Journal of Clinical Psychology, Vol. 55, pp. 1243-54.
31. Pennebaker, J.W., Kiecolt-Glaser, J. and Glaser, R. (1988), "Disclosure of traumas and immune function: Health implications for psychotherapy", Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Vol. 56, pp. 239-45.
32. Philipp, R. (1999), "Evaluating the arts in health care and mental health promotion - the example of creative writing", in Haldane, D. and Loppert, S. (Eds), The Arts in Healthcare: Learning from Experience, King's Fund, London, pp. 96-114.
33. Philips, D., Penman, D. and Linington, L. (1999), Writing Well: Creative Writing and Mental Health, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London.
34. Post, F. (1994), "Creativity and psychopathology: a study of 291 world-famous men", The British Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 165, pp. 22-34.
35. Richards, J.M., Beal, W.E., Seagal, J. and Pennebaker, J.W. (2000), "Effects of disclosure of traumatic events on illness behaviour among psychiatric prison inmates", Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Vol. 109, pp. 156-60.
36. Sampson, F. (1999), The Healing Word, The Poetry Society, London.
37. Sloan, D.M. and Marx, B.P. (2004), "A closer examination of the structured written disclosure procedure", Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Vol. 72, pp. 165-75.
38. Smyth, J.M. (1998), "Effect sizes, outcome types and moderating variables", Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Vol. 66, pp. 174-84.
39. Smyth, J.M., Stone, A.A., Hurewitz, A. and Kaell, A. (1999), "Effects of writing about stressful experiences on symptom reduction in patients with asthma or rheumatoid arthritis: a randomized trial", Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 281, pp. 1304-9.
40. Spera, S., Buhrfeind, E. and Pennebaker, J.W. (1994), "Expressive writing and coping with job loss", Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 3, pp. 722-33.
41. Stone, A.A., Smyth, J.M., Kaell, A. and Hurewitz, A. (2000), "Structured writing about stressful events: Exploring potential psychological mediators of positive health effects", Health Psychology, Vol. 19, pp. 619-24.
42. Van Zuuren, F.J., Schoutrop, M.J.A., Lange, A., Louis, C.M. and Slegers, J.E.M. (1999), "Effective and ineffective ways of writing about traumatic experiences: a qualitative study", Psychotherapy Research, Vol. 9, pp. 363-80.