Can You Fix a Broken Heart by Writing about It?
Break-ups can be bad for your health. But new research shows that writing about your separation can improve cardiac health—as long as you write in a certain way.
07 June, 2017
Writing in our diary may be good for our heart, quite literally.
Going through a separation, a divorce, or even just a bad break-up can feel earth shattering and soul destroying. As if this wasn't enough, separating from your loved one can also wreak havoc on your health.
<p>Studies have shown that <strong>a divorce</strong>, for example, <strong>can cause not only a range of psychological problems</strong>—loneliness, unhappiness, overall poor life <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17439760.2012.671346" target="_blank">satisfaction</a>—<strong>but also an unfortunate assortment of physiological and health issues.</strong> A separation can make us more likely to fall <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3029796" target="_blank">ill</a>, develop <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24618083" target="_blank">heart disease</a>, or even increase the risk of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26168197" target="_blank">death</a>. </p> <p>But is there a way out of the darkness? Apart from seeing a therapist, exercising, and getting plenty of good food and rest, what else can you do to mend a broken heart? </p> <p>Apparently, you can write about it. A new study says that writing about your relationship and break up can do wonders for the health of your heart—but there is a catch: <strong>only one kind of writing can help. </strong></p> <h2>Expressive writing and health </h2> <p>The new study, carried out by researchers from the Department of Psychology at the University of Arizona, looked at how so-called “narrative expressive writing" affects the heart rate, heart rate variability, and blood pressure in recently separated adults. </p> <p><strong>“Expressive writing" is a therapeutic practice where people are asked to record their “deepest thoughts and feelings"</strong> about a traumatic life event. The idea behind this cognitive behavioral intervention is that by relieving emotions, people can <strong>better adapt cognitively</strong> to what happened and<strong> make meaning or “sense" of things. </strong></p> <p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODQxMDAyMi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NzY5MDI0OH0.OfTCrS9RZEGEf5DF_H-Y-3Pdl9mPgLx1CscZliHHfro/img.jpg?width=980" id="ac112" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8f5bf5ab9a3a58c163af24f8e7c93c40" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <p><em><span class="s1" style="color: #737d83; font-size: 13px;">A visitor to the temporary memorial at the 9/11 crash site of Flight 93 writes a message of remembrance to the passengers and crew that lost their lives. Image credit: </span><span style="color: #737d83; font-size: 13px;">Archie Carpenter/Getty Images</span></em></p> <p class="p1">Expressive writing has been shown to improve physical health: it makes our immune system stronger, and it lowers our blood pressure and heart rate. </p> <p>But when it comes to break-ups, does this kind of writing help? Some <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/2167702612469801" target="_blank">studies</a> answered with a clear “no." Not only does this kind of writing not help, but it may also make things worse, as <strong>excessive rumination over what went wrong can make you feel even more distressed. </strong></p> <p>The new study, however, by University of Arizona's Kyle Bourassa and his team, added a key element: <strong>narratives</strong>. Just recording your thoughts and feelings about a traumatic event such as a divorce or separation may not help much, but writing about it in the form of a narrative is, well, a whole other story. </p> <h2>How do different kinds of writing affect your heart? </h2> <p>Kyle Bourassa and his colleagues rounded up 109 newly separated adults and divided them into three separate groups: one group engaged in “traditional expressive writing," another in narrative expressive writing, and finally, a control group wrote in a rather neutral way.</p> <p>The participants had to write as instructed for 20 minutes each day, for three successive days. </p> <p>Those in the expressive writing group had to write for 20 minutes about their <strong>strongest and deepest feelings</strong> around the separation. </p> <p>Those in the narrative expressive writing group were still asked to express their strongest emotions, but they were also prompted to come up with a story arc for their separation. On Day 1 they had to tell <strong>the story of the end of their relationship</strong>, on Day 2 they had to write about <strong>the separation experience</strong>, and finally, on Day 3 they had to come up with <strong>an end to the “divorce story." </strong></p> <p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODQxMDAyMy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0OTk4Mzk3NX0.7STZqykwav-Un5oaPb8AKm_pdciSHHFHFSgiBCIX4rY/img.jpg?width=980" id="9341c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="dea0817c20ce61e909e14388ee6ac688" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <p><em><span style="color: #737d83; font-size: 13px;">The heartbreak caused by a separation can feel overwhelming and have a negative effect on our health. But writing up a story about it might change that. Image credit: Lichtenstein Hopeless by Jennifer Mei</span></em></p> <p>Some of the prompts they received read: <strong>“Please think about how you and your partner met,"</strong> and <strong>“When did you first realize you and your partner were headed toward divorce? What was that time like?" </strong>The writing tasks the participants had to complete had a clear, specific goal: make the story of your separation a <em>coherent narrative</em>. </p> <p>Finally, those in the control writing group were simply asked to write “continuously and without emotion" for 20 minutes about how they usually spend their time. </p> <p>Over a period of seven and a half months, the participants were evaluated physiologically three times. The researchers measured their heart rate, the variability of their heart rate, and their blood pressure. </p> <h2>If it hurts, put it in a story </h2> <p>It turns out that <strong>narrative expressive writing does wonders for your health.</strong> The study revealed that those who engaged in the activity had a much lower heart rate than the control group. </p> <p>Additionally, <strong>participants in the narrative expressive writing group had a higher heart rate variability</strong> (the time interval between heartbeats). Heart rate variability is a good measure of the body's ability to adapt to the environment and its stressors—and a high variability is an indicator of good health—as is a low heart rate. </p> <p>By contrast, those who did traditional expressive writing had pretty much the same heart rate, blood pressure, and heart rate variability as those in the control group.</p> <p>Why is narrative journalling so soothing for the heart? The lead author of the study <a href="https://uanews.arizona.edu/story/narrative-journaling-may-help-hearts-health-postdivorce" target="_blank">offers</a> an explanation: </p> <blockquote></blockquote><p>"To be able to <strong>create a story in a structured way</strong>—not just re-experience your emotions but <strong>make meaning</strong> out of them—allows you to process those feelings in a more physiologically adaptive way," says Bourassa. </p> <p>"The explicit instructions to create a narrative may provide a scaffolding for people who are going through this tough time," he adds on a hopeful note. "This structure can <strong>help people gain an understanding of their experience that allows them to move forward,</strong> rather than simply spinning and re-experiencing the same negative emotions over and over."</p> <div class="video-full-card-placeholder" data-slug="gail-saltz-on-the-neurotransmitters-of-love" style="border: 1px solid #ccc;">
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