Whileliving with arthritis一种叫做“表达性写作”的技巧可能会造成大多数人甚至想不到的压力，但它可能会带来精神和身体上的缓解。例如，也许你生气是因为疼痛让你不能和朋友一起购物或和你的孩子一起玩——再次。你可能会陷入愤怒。
“But in addition to anger,you probably also feel grief, loss and a lack of control over the circumstances,” says clinical psychologist Mark Lumley, PhD, psychology professor at Wayne State University in Detroit. “Expressive writing can help bring forward those less-accessible feelings besides anger that don’t always have a voice.
Writing this way reduces inner conflict and provides you a better sense of emotional balance – and perhaps even less pain – when you express those feelings on paper.”
In fact, research has found that people withrheumatoid arthritis (RA)宾夕法尼亚州立大学生物行为健康和医学教授、1999年研究报告的作者约书亚·史密斯博士说，在表达压力经历后，他们的疼痛、僵硬和关节活动都有所改善。Smyth also is co-author with James W. Pennebaker, PhD – considered the father of expressive writing – of the 2016 edition ofOpening Up, The Healing Power of Expressing Emotions.
“Writing aboutstressful or challenging experiencesallows you to disclose [to yourself] your thoughts and feelings, helping you make sense of them,” Smyth says.
Unlike journaling, which is usually ongoing and often emotional but may lack direction or reflection, expressive writing is done over just a few days with the purpose of encouraging the writer to process his thoughts and feelings in a careful and reflective way.
史密斯说:“我们的理念是促进变革和成长，以应对具有挑战性的事件，而不是简单地以一种无效的方式转动你的情感轮子。”
Try expressive writing to access uncomfortable feelings, says Lumley.
“Writing only about your physical health or symptoms probably won’t be that helpful, but pulling together and expressing all of your feelings related to your health probably will be,” he says.
Ready to Write?
- Choose an intensely emotional issue that affects you now. This might be coping with your arthritis or some event that is important to you.
- 在一个安全、安静、不受干扰的地方连续写下它。手写或在电脑上书写，如果书写感到疼痛，可以使用数字录音机。
- Don’t know what to write about? Try a different perspective; for example, write in the third person one day.
- Don’t worry about spelling, style or grammar.
- Know your writing is for your eyes only.
- Do this for four consecutive days in sessions of about 30 minutes.
Related Resources:
- Arthritis & Emotions
- Stress, Anxiety and Arthritis
- Use Music to Get You Through Pain
- Art Therapy to Ease Stress
- 调整态度能缓解关节疼痛吗?