How Poetry Can Heal Emotional Turmoil Over Time
It is thought by psychologists and other professionals in the mental health field that reading and/or writing poetry can help heal emotional turmoil over time. It is well known that patients who visit with psychologists can often be asked to write their thoughts or feelings down in journals so they can examine how they feel, and work through their thought processes with their doctor.
It's not just those seeking help that can benefit from either reading or writing poetry for emotional turmoil, however. Anyone who may be experiencing pain or turbulent thoughts can potentially benefit from a poet's words on paper. Here are some ways poetry can help to heal emotional turmoil over time.
There Can Be Physical Health Benefits
There are some studies and professionals who believe that poetry can actually help provide some physical health benefits as well as mental health benefits. It is widely believed that mental health can contribute to the overall health of your body, and if your emotionally distressed, it can cause an adverse reaction in your body. For example, causing headaches, stomach cramps, and even high blood pressure.
Some researchers believe that reading or writing poetry for emotional turmoil can potentially benefit your overall health by helping to release stress and negative emotions you might otherwise hold in. Reading poetry where the writer's emotions seem to mirror your own can help you evaluate and even release those same emotions over time. Writing your inner thoughts and feelings in a poem can also have great benefits in releasing negative emotions.
It Can Focus Your Thoughts
When you aren't feeling your best emotionally it's possible to be unfocused on your thought, which could be let your feelings take control instead. This can be true if you are in a particularly stressful situation such as dealing with a medical issue or even going through a divorce.
Reading and/or writing poetry for emotional turmoil can help focus your thoughts and potentially narrow down how you actually feel about the situation. This can let your logical mind focus on the right direction to go. When your feelings are in turmoil it can be difficult to act reasonably and poetry can help you bring those feelings back in control so you are able to focus your thoughts more clearly.
Poems are perfect for this type of healing because they are direct and to the point. It forces your mind to only focus on the feelings and thoughts in the moment to create a precise and measured piece of writing.