Writing Can Decrease Exam Anxiety

Writing about your worries just before an exam can reduce the risk of performing poorly due to anxiety.

In the study, 20 students were given two math exams - doing nothing special before the first exam. Before the second exam, students were told they would receive money for high grades. Half of the students (Group 1) were then instructed to take 10 minutes and write down any concerns they had about the exam.

Group 2 did 12% worse on the 2nd test vs. the 1st. In contrast, Group 1 experienced a 5% improvement on the 2nd exam. The research found that writing had to be about test-related concerns, not writing in general.

Writing is Emotional

Research finds that writing marginalizes brain activity in regions associated with emotional responses ... meaning writing can help you calm down.

Brains of people were examined as they looked at pictures of others who had positive or negative facial expressions. When asked to label the emotion, the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex became active, a region associated with self-restraint. Only when people express emotions in words does activity arise in this region. Also, the more that region is activated, the less active are a variety of limbic regions associated with emotions

Write to Lose Weight

Research finds that people who write down everything they eat each day lose twice as much as those who don’t.

~1,700 participants were asked to follow a heart-healthy diet, attended weekly group sessions and did moderate exercise for 1/2 hour daily. After 6 months, ~2/3rd had lost at least 9lbs. Moreover, those who wrote down what they ate lost twice as much as others.