E-mail Your Way to Better Health

[Guest guest]

E-mail Your Way to Better Health

Fri Apr 26, 7:12 PM ET

By Dennis Jr.

HealthScoutNews Reporter

FRIDAY, April 26 (HealthScoutNews) -- Could e-mail be just what the

doctor ordered?

Maybe so, according to new research that found people who use e-mail to

discuss life's emotional upsets tend to be healthier.

Students at Texas A & M University who wrote e-mails about their " traumatic

emotional experiences " were sick for fewer days, missed fewer classes and

reported better overall health than students who didn't discuss upsetting

events, but wrote instead about a movie they saw or the events of their

day.

The study was conducted by senior psychology major Brown, who worked

under the guidance of psychology professor Graziano.

The research has been accepted for presentation at the American

Psychological Association's conference in Chicago in August, according to

university officials.

About 150 students were asked to write 500-word e-mails to the

researchers from their home or dorm computers for three days in a row,

Brown says. Half chosen at random wrote about " traumatic emotional

experiences, " while the rest wrote about non-emotional topics.

For five weeks, all the study participants filed weekly health reports

detailing the number of times they had missed classes due to illness,

visited the doctor, taken over-the-counter medications or simply felt

sick, Brown says. They also filled out health assessments at the

beginning and end of the study.

Participants who wrote about their emotional experiences were less likely

to suffer from respiratory distress and the common cold, Graziano says,

and made fewer trips to the school infirmary.

The definition of what constituted a " traumatic emotional experience " was

left up to the participants, Brown says: " What's traumatic to you is kind

of relative. "

Brown says an example of a traumatic experience could be going off to

college for the first time. Another example, Graziano says, might be

getting held up at gunpoint.

The researchers can't say why the people sending e-mails about their

troubles enjoyed better health, Graziano says.

However, he speculates, " The symptoms that improved are the kinds of

things that might be affected by stress. The kinds of things suffered by

typically healthy people who weren't feeling well. "

Says Brown: " It seems that people have always known that talking or

writing about their problems helps them feel better, at least

psychologically. The study we did provides empirical evidence that

written emotional expression is also beneficial to physical health, even

when conducted through e- mail. "

And given the convenience of e-mail, it could make such treatments

easier, Brown says.

Brown and Graziano say they'd originally planned to replicate studies by

University of Texas psychology professor Pennebaker, who found

people had better health when they wrote out their problems longhand in

an experimental setting, such as a school laboratory.

But the A & M researchers had trouble finding lab space to conduct their

experiment and ended up deciding to see whether e-mail written from home

would be just as effective.

" We were concerned that people would not take it as seriously if they

participated from home, " Brown says. " But everybody uses e-mail now.

Personally, I'm more comfortable going in and writing somebody on e-mail

than sitting in a room writing something down on paper. "

Brown plans to replicate the study on a larger, 500-person sample and

will continue analyzing her data after graduation.

[Guest guest]

This article comes to us via the RA-Support group

E-mail Your Way to Better Health

Fri Apr 26, 7:12 PM ET

By Dennis Jr.

HealthScoutNews Reporter

FRIDAY, April 26 (HealthScoutNews) -- Could e-mail be just what the

doctor ordered?

Maybe so, according to new research that found people who use e-mail

to

discuss life's emotional upsets tend to be healthier.

Students at Texas A & M University who wrote e-mails about

their " traumatic

emotional experiences " were sick for fewer days, missed fewer classes

and

reported better overall health than students who didn't discuss

upsetting

events, but wrote instead about a movie they saw or the events of

their

day.

The study was conducted by senior psychology major Brown, who

worked

under the guidance of psychology professor Graziano.

The research has been accepted for presentation at the American

Psychological Association's conference in Chicago in August,

according to

university officials.

About 150 students were asked to write 500-word e-mails to the

researchers from their home or dorm computers for three days in a

row,

Brown says. Half chosen at random wrote about " traumatic emotional

experiences, " while the rest wrote about non-emotional topics.

For five weeks, all the study participants filed weekly health

reports

detailing the number of times they had missed classes due to illness,

visited the doctor, taken over-the-counter medications or simply felt

sick, Brown says. They also filled out health assessments at the

beginning and end of the study.

Participants who wrote about their emotional experiences were less

likely

to suffer from respiratory distress and the common cold, Graziano

says,

and made fewer trips to the school infirmary.

The definition of what constituted a " traumatic emotional experience "

was

left up to the participants, Brown says: " What's traumatic to you is

kind

of relative. "

Brown says an example of a traumatic experience could be going off to

college for the first time. Another example, Graziano says, might be

getting held up at gunpoint.

The researchers can't say why the people sending e-mails about their

troubles enjoyed better health, Graziano says.

However, he speculates, " The symptoms that improved are the kinds of

things that might be affected by stress. The kinds of things suffered

by

typically healthy people who weren't feeling well. "

Says Brown: " It seems that people have always known that talking or

writing about their problems helps them feel better, at least

psychologically. The study we did provides empirical evidence that

written emotional expression is also beneficial to physical health,

even

when conducted through e- mail. "

And given the convenience of e-mail, it could make such treatments

easier, Brown says.

Brown and Graziano say they'd originally planned to replicate studies

by

University of Texas psychology professor Pennebaker, who found

people had better health when they wrote out their problems longhand

in

an experimental setting, such as a school laboratory.

But the A & M researchers had trouble finding lab space to conduct

their

experiment and ended up deciding to see whether e-mail written from

home

would be just as effective.

" We were concerned that people would not take it as seriously if they

participated from home, " Brown says. " But everybody uses e-mail now.

Personally, I'm more comfortable going in and writing somebody on e-

mail

than sitting in a room writing something down on paper. "

Brown plans to replicate the study on a larger, 500-person sample and

will continue analyzing her data after graduation.

--- End forwarded message ---