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Originally Posted by PTSD101
Hey there
I've been reading something in my Psych studies and it's puzzling me! I'd be interested to hear what fellow PTSD sufferers opinions are on the subject....
Before I start just a little of why this is big for me. I also have CFS, which I believe is because I'm useless at expressing emotions - a bottler from a very young age. I believe that when you're a massive bottler there comes a time when your body can't take any more and simply shuts down - CFS in my case. This may be completely wrong - just my current way of thinking.
What I was reading, was that they have done many studies in which they found that the more people talked about their stresses, upsets and sufferings the better their health. They stated that it works in two ways 1) disclosure improves your immune system and, 2) disclosure turns off the red alert system in your body and therefore increases your well being.
This is weird, because I've read elsewhere that for PTSD sufferers talking about what they went through can make it worse. Yet here are these studies showing the opposite????
In a simple non-triggering example they got people with arthritis to speak for 15mins every day into a tape recorder about what was currently upsetting/stressing them. They not only found that their arthritis improved but there was also a direct correlation between how much emotion they expressed and pain reduction.
What are your thoughts on this? Does talking about your trauma improve your physical/mental health over time or do you feel it makes it worse?
Thanks in advance to any of you who respond to my musings 
Cheers 101 |
IMHO it is helpful for awhile. But at some point it becomes a burden to carry the past around as if it 'is you' instead of something that happened 'to you'. It is when you reach that point that you know it is time to do a little more stretching to find some healing for yourself. A little at a time.
The idea of therapy or journal writing or talking into a tape recorder is that you can let go some of the pain, leave it there and think about other things, even things that will be positive steps toward letting go and healing. So, yes, it helps, if you can grow from it. If it keeps you in a perpetual loop of pain, it might be time to explore other ways to refocus.
For myself, I give myself permission to write about a thing, (and I have Many, Many to choose from), but I write with a purpose; to get it all out. Whatever I have to say about the subject gets put out there where I can look at it, consider it, tweak and fondle it until I have Nothing left to say on the subject and can leave it there. I let myself have my say about how I feel, what my sadness or trauma did to me. I can always come back to it if I have more thoughts but I can explore every angle and get it all out once and for all. That is therapy and another tool we can give ourselves to learn.
It doesn't make it go away, entirely, but it helps me to stop carrying it in my body. It helps me to feel I have control over it and I am not burdening anyone else until I have time to work through how I feel and have time to get myself in a better place to accept the help that talking about it can bring. It also curbs the tendency toward over-sharing/verbal vomit. I give myself time to consider what I really want to share, what I am able to hear, and that helps me.
Sorry for my own long ramble! I think you will see there are many different takes on the question you posed...this is mine.
