Writing Therapy

Last year I noticed that writing my book tires me. I got headaches and some kind of weird tiredness while writing the first version of the book from October 2008 to December 2009. This kind of tiredness I also got after weekend seminars of various personal growth approaches. It should not have come as a surprise, since writing therapy is a personal growth approach too. When we write about our past — distant or recent — we in a way go through all those painful experiences once more. This is good for us in the long run, for we will be able to overcome the pain our memories bring us sooner, if we write about it. Nonetheless we should not overdo it. We should limit the amount of the so called writing therapy in order not to get too tired from it. It would be similar to taking too much medicine.

Last year I thought to myself: »When I finish the text, these problems will be gone«. This year the text is finished. I am making improvements to it. However the problem of tiredness and headaches is still there.

I asked my psychiatrist about it. She agreed that making improvements to the text is still writing therapy. So are the blogs. That is why sometimes I have to take a whole week off. Last week for example I walked in the nature a lot. I took a lot of photos during the walks and was busy arranging them afterwards. I also painted a nice picture for a birthday card. I participated in forums discussions a bit, but not too much. For me even short posts on www.healthyplace.com or www.realmentalhealth.com are writing therapy.

To sum up — no matter how I enjoy producing this book and no matter how happy I am to have finally found my dream job, I still have to be patient. I have to stay away from the computer at times, no matter how hard it is to resist working on my book about my experience with mental illness.

What cannot be cured must be endured.

You can ask me more about my experience with mental illness: bb.bukle@gmail.com.