Breast cancer survivors benefit from writing about their experiences

the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:

A new study demonstrated that writing about emotionally difficult events, such as a cancer diagnosis, might improve outcomes for some breast cancer survivors. The study was conducted by a researcher at the University of Houston (UH). He was able to show that writing about their fears and emotions helped patients cope. Following the expressive writing intervention for 20 to 30 minutes at a time over 3 or 4 days increased immune function. The researcher found patients experienced long-term physical and psychological health benefits from the writing, and noted that participants perceived the writing task to be easy, revealed their emotions, and disclosed things they had not previously shared with others.