Expressing Emotions by Writing Helps HIV Patients

Writing about emotional topics appears to reduce stress in HIV-infected patients and may improve immune responses, according to researchers in New Zealand and the US.

Writing about emotional topics appears to reduce stress in HIV-infected patients and may improve immune responses, according to researchers in New Zealand and the US. Dr. Kevin J. Petrie of the University of Auckland and colleagues note that a review of studies involving such emotional disclosure by patients with diseases such as asthma and arthritis has shown “consistent and significant improvements in health outcomes after written emotional expression.” To investigate whether this strategy might also help HIV patients, they studied 37 such subjects. Their findings are published Psychosomatic Medicine. The subjects, who were randomly assigned to an emotional writing group or to a control group, were assessed individually and then assigned to write for 30 minutes on 4 consecutive days in a small, private, dimly lit room. All writing was anonymous and those in the emotional group were encouraged to explore deep feelings that they had not previously expressed. “Subjects were told they could write about HIV-related topics or any other issues of emotional importance to them.” Control participants were asked to write objectively about how they occupied their time. Subjects in the emotional group rated the experience as being more valuable than did those in the control group. Moreover, Petrie told Reuters Health, “the CD4+ positive lymphocyte count increased gradually and continuously in the emotional writing group in the 6 months after the sessions. However, there was no change in the control group.” The findings, he concluded, are consistent with those of other studies which indicate that patients with HIV infection, “who don’t get to discuss their feelings, have a faster decline in their health.” (Source: Psychosomatic Medicine, Reuters Health,April 2004.)