Three Types of Writing to Improve Self-Awareness and Mental Health

Ernest Hemingway famously said, “Write hard and clear about what hurts.” Although Hemingway probably was unaware of it at the time, research has shown that writing about “what hurts” can help improve our mental health.

More than 200 studies show the positive impact of writing on mental health. While people agree on its psychological benefits, researchers don't completely agree on why or how writing helps us.

One theory suggests that suppressing emotions can lead to psychological distress. It makes sense, then, that writing may promote mental health because it provides a safe and private way to express feelings that have accumulated in the past.

However, recent studies have begun to show how increasing self-awareness, rather than simply expressing emotions, can be the key to promoting mental health.

At its core, self-awareness is the ability to shift your attention toward yourself. We can become more aware of our qualities, behaviors, feelings, beliefs, values, and motivations.

Research indicates that increasing self-awareness can be beneficial in several ways. It can increase our self-confidence, encourage us to be more accepting of others, increase our satisfaction with our work, and push us to become more effective leaders; It can also help us exercise more self-control and make better decisions that align with our long-term goals.

Self-awareness is a spectrum; with practice, we can all improve it. Writing can be specifically helpful in increasing self-awareness because you can practice it daily. Rereading our writing can also give us a deeper insight into our thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and beliefs.

Three types of writing that can improve your self-awareness

Here are three types of writing that can improve your self-awareness and, therefore, your mental health:

1. Expressive Writing

Expressive writing is often used in therapeutic situations where people are asked to write about their thoughts and feelings related to a stressful event they have experienced. This type of writing is intended to help address a harsh emotional experience.

Research shows that expressive writing can boost self-awareness and ultimately reduce symptoms of depression, troubling thoughts, and perceived stress.

2. Reflective Writing

Reflective writing is regularly used in professional settings, often to help nurses, doctors, teachers, psychologists, and social workers become more effective at their jobs. People can explicitly evaluate their beliefs and actions through reflective writing, which aims to aid in learning and personal growth.

Reflective writing requires asking oneself questions and always being open, curious, and analytical. It can increase self-awareness by helping people learn from their experiences and interactions, improving their professional and personal relationships, and boosting their performance at work, which are key indicators of good mental health.

3. Creative Writing

Poems, short stories, and novels are forms of creative writing, usually using imagination alongside or instead of memory and literary tools such as imagery and metaphor to convey meaning.

Creative writing offers a unique way to explore thoughts, feelings, opinions, and beliefs. For example, you could write a science fiction novel that represents your concerns about climate change or a children's story that talks about your beliefs about friendship. You can even write a poem from an owl's perspective as a way to portray your insomnia.

Writing creatively about difficult experiences, such as grief, can be a way to communicate something you feel is too complex or challenging to say to others directly.

Creative writing encourages people to choose their words, metaphors, and images in a way that truly showcases what they are trying to convey. Making this creative decision can increase self-awareness and self-esteem and improve mental health.

Writing to improve self-awareness

Self-awareness is a core component of good mental health, and writing is a great place to start.

Why not spend some time writing down your feelings about a specific stressful event that happened during the pandemic? Or think about the consequences of a challenging situation at work in the past year and what you learned from it. If you'd prefer to do something more creative, try responding to that stimulus by writing a poem or story.

Think about how your home reveals the situation we are currently in. Is your pantry full of flour? And do you have new things or pets to ward off loneliness or boredom? And what do you see from your window that reveals something about this historic moment?

Every attempt at writing will give you a chance to reflect on the past year, ask yourself important questions, and make creative choices. Spending just fifteen minutes may give you a chance to do this to become more self-aware, which can improve your mental health.