Some cancer patients find that putting their emotions down in writing may help ease their pain and improve their overall well-being. The writing, part of a concept called "narrative" medicine, has always been seen as a way to aid communication between seriously ill patients and their doctors. However, new research shows that the actual act of writing may help patients better understand themselves and their needs, according to a study team, led by Dr. M. Soledad Cepeda of Tufts-New England Medical Center.

As part of the research, 234 cancer patients who were suffering from at least moderate levels of pain from their disease were randomly assigned to one of three groups: one that was asked to perform narrative writing; one that filled out a standard questionnaire about pain symptoms; and one that stayed with standard care only. Those in the narrative-writing group were asked to spend 20 minutes per week, for three weeks, writing about the ways in which cancer was affecting their daily lives. Also, over the span of eight weeks patients in all three groups completed a standard questionnaire about their well-being and rated their pain levels.

On the whole, the research team found that patients in the writing group who were open about their emotions showed less pain and greater well-being over time than the rest of the study subjects. As for the patients whose writing was generally unemotional - similar positive effects were not seen. According to Cepeda’s team, the findings suggest that the emotional release of writing, specifically, is what helps patients deal with their cancer pain.

The research team said it’s possible that the most seriously ill patients find it more difficult to write about their feelings. Therefore, more studies are needed, to see whether encouraging seriously ill patients to reveal their emotions in writing benefits their well-being as well.