Writing eases stress of cancer

Writing eases stress of cancer
23 Mar 2008, 1245 hrs IST,PTI

NEW YORK: The simple act of writing down their deepest feelings can help cancer patients improve their quality of life, according to a new study.

A team of researchers in the United States has found that cancer patients who express their fears through writing can experience changes in thoughts about their illness, The Oncologist journal reported.

According to lead researcher Nancy Morgan of Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Centre, "Previous research have suggested that expressive writing may enhance physical and psychological well-being.

"But most of those studies involved three to five writing sessions that were conducted in a controlled setting. Here, we found that just one writing session in a busy cancer clinic where the patients are frequently interrupted can still have a positive impact on patients."

Morgan and her colleagues came to the conclusion after a research on a group of over 70 patients waiting in a clinic at a cancer centre in Washington from July to November 2006.

It included a pre-writing survey, just 20 minutes of expressive writing, a post-writing survey, and an optional follow-up survey that was completed by telephone three weeks later.