Want to Control Pain Naturally? Write About It

A study published last month in a journal that addresses the management of pain and other symptoms in seriously ill patients, points to the therapeutic value of writing about one's feelings while battling cancer or other debilitating conditions. Sometimes called "narrative medicine," such writing has traditionally focused on increasing communication in the patient-doctor relationship. However, the study detailed in today's post led researchers to conclude that "emotional writing" also has value by helping individuals to get in better touch with what they are feeling during this crisis in their lives. In addition, the results indicated that such writing helped to ease pain as well.

Easing pain is critical in order for healing to take place. When one is in pain, depression often sets in as well as a hopeless mentality. When pain is alleviated, depression usually lifts and one is then able to help and support their body toward healing and health, especially when natural methods are being used.

It is always good news to hear about another natural, drug-free way of dealing with pain. The benefits of sharing innermost feelings while fighting illness strengthens evidence for the mind, body, and spirit connections that surely play a role in both disease and wellness. Developing a habit of being open and truthful instead of suppressing our feelings and emotions can also help to prevent disease from ever occurring in the first place, and we know that prevention is clearly the best form of treatment.


"Emotional" writing may help ease cancer pain
Fri Jul 18, 1:39 PM ET

Some cancer patients may find that putting their emotions down in writing helps improve their pain and general well-being, a study suggests.

Such writing, part of a concept called "narrative" medicine, has been seen as a way to aid communication between seriously ill patients and their doctors.

But the act of writing, itself, may also help patients better understand themselves and their needs, according to the study team, led by Dr. M. Soledad Cepeda of Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston.

To look at the question, they randomly assigned 234 cancer patients to one of three groups: one that was asked to perform narrative writing; one that filled out a standard questionnaire about pain symptoms; and one that stayed with standard care only.

All of the study patients were suffering from at least moderate levels of pain from their disease. Those in the narrative-writing group were asked to spend 20 minutes per week, for three weeks, writing about the ways in which cancer was affecting their daily lives.

At the study's start and then once a week for eight weeks, patients in all three groups completed a standard questionnaire about their well-being and rated their pain levels.

In general, Cepeda's team found, patients in the writing group who were open about their emotions showed less pain and greater well-being over time than the rest of the study subjects.

Such effects were not seen in patients whose writing was relatively unemotional, the researchers report in the Journal of Pain & Symptom Management.

The findings suggest that the emotional release of writing, specifically, is what helps patients deal with their cancer pain, according to Cepeda's team. However, they add, it's also possible that the most seriously ill patients find it more difficult to write about their feelings.

More studies are needed, the researchers conclude, to see whether encouraging seriously ill patients to reveal their emotions in writing benefits their well-being. In addition, they say, studies should look at whether verbally telling one's "story" has positive effects.

SOURCE: Journal of Pain & Symptom Management, June 2008.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080718/hl_nm/cancer_pain_dc&printer=1;_ylt=Ap0M0B31JBEo1qScbIqP6zcR.3QA