I'm not a robot

CAPTCHA

Privacy - Terms

reCAPTCHA v4
Link



















Original text

Fortunately for researchers who will probably one day be engaged in scientifically documenting the effect of writing and its influence on the human psyche, the objects of research in this potential direction of psychotherapy themselves present the results of experiments on themselves. Here are some of the results of this self-exploration: The famous writer Anne Lamott calls the habit of writing, observing life, perceiving life as raw material, a calming habit “like biting your nails.” She suggests that instead of fearing life, step back and observe it, rethink it creatively. Many psychological books have been written about how we can all be actors in this life, many books about how great it would be to become active creators of our lives - directors, but quite rarely we come across, in my opinion, a particularly psychotherapeutic proposal - to learn to be spectators. It is this aspect that Anne Lamott describes. Moreover, from a distance, observing life, she shares her perception of people: “almost everyone I come into contact with seems to me to be a patient with acute pain. Look closely, and there are so many wounded souls, so many tormented faces around. However, a writer can become a healer: remember how many times you opened a book, read just one line and thought: “Yes! This is my pain! “I want to give people this feeling of recognition, unity,” writes Anne. The healing power of writing is explored even more interestingly and in detail by the German literary teacher Jürgen Wolf. He lists a large number of writers who became famous and interesting to the reader for their novels, the main purpose of writing which was the authors’ struggle with their personal fears, with their problems. Marquez, Virginia Woolf, Harper Lee, Hemingway, Dostoevsky... In my opinion, it is necessary to quote the first lines of the chapter “Writing as Therapy” verbatim. Jürgen Wolf writes: “Some writers find inspiration in their own fears. Jean Rhys is one of many famous authors for whom literature is a kind of therapy. She said: I never wrote when I was happy. I didn't want to. But I have never been happy for long... In fact, there is little that is invented in my books. First of all, I wanted to get rid of the sadness that was bending me to the ground. Even as a child, I realized that if I find the right words, it will pass. Edna Farber's opinion of writers' personalities—perhaps including her own—seemed to be rather bleak: I think to write well and convincingly, you need to be poisoned by emotions. Hostility, dissatisfaction, resentment, attacks, imagination, violent protest, a sense of injustice - all this is excellent fuel.” William Styron agrees with her: At all times, good literature has been the result of someone's neurosis... Writing is a good way of treatment for those who are constantly afraid of some unknown threats and prone to panic. Tennessee William wrote that the only refuge in which he could overcome all emotional problems was writing books. In this way, he coped with his unhappiness caused by the breakup of a relationship or the death of a loved one. Others most often turn to a psychologist for help at these moments. This is exactly how the author of this article coped with a state of acute grief ten years ago. “Write stories” - this was the psychotherapist’s task. And a series of stories appeared... it would seem that they were not at all autobiographical, although the theme of the loss of a loved one, something vital, the theme of overcoming... in general, reflection went off scale in each story. It was precisely a series of stories: the author finished writing at the moment when remaining in a state of experience, empathy for the characters, in a state of anguish, became more difficult than agreeing to get out of this state. These stories have more than ten thousand readers, hundreds of positive responses on a specialized website, and the question “Why don’t you write more?” Thinking about this question, I answer myself “I don’t feel the need.” The pain that.