Whew! It has sure been a while hasn’t it? My day job has kept me so swamped with exceptional growth and new opportunity that I haven’t even had time to take a moment for myself, let alone my blog. Until now!
On the eve of a trip to Cabo San Lucas I stumbled upon this great study from Scientific American which just validates my part time hobby.
Enjoy!
Self-medication may be the reason the blogosphere has taken off. Scientists (and writers) have long known about the therapeutic benefits of writing about personal experiences, thoughts and feelings. But besides serving as a stress-coping mechanism, expressive writing produces many physiological benefits. Research shows that it improves memory and sleep, boosts immune cell activity and reduces viral load in AIDS patients, and even speeds healing after surgery. A study in the February issue of the Oncologist reports that cancer patients who engaged in expressive writing just before treatment felt markedly better, mentally and physically, as compared with patients who did not.
Scientists now hope to explore the neurological underpinnings at play, especially considering the explosion of blogs. According to Alice Flaherty, a neuroscientist at Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital, the placebo theory of suffering is one window through which to view blogging. As social creatures, humans have a range of pain-related behaviors, such as complaining, which acts as a “placebo for getting satisfied,†Flaherty says. Blogging about stressful experiences might work similarly.
Rest assured, I’ll be back in a week with much perspective on Yahoo!/MSN, Analytics, Doubleclick, and much more.
keep the medication comin’
Hi,
“A study in the February issue of the Oncologist reports that cancer patients who engaged in expressive writing just before treatment felt markedly better, mentally and physically, as compared with patients who did not.”
Thank you for great informations
Cheers
I had read this in the news – eye opening to say the least.