Writing has been found to help individuals process distress, manage emotions, and build resilience in the face of everyday challenges, according to Emily Johnston, a professor of writing studies at UC Merced. Johnston’s research explores how the act of writing can rewire the brain, allowing people to better handle difficult situations.
Johnston explains that writing does not need to be formal or structured. “Maybe the feelings are too fresh and you don’t have the words yet. So write a to-do list. Write about the cup of coffee on your desk. You’re still exercising that writing muscle. ‘What are the words I’m looking for?’” she said.
She describes writing as a way to create distance from challenging experiences, which helps regulate emotional responses and clarify thinking. “Writing is a tool we use to communicate, but also to process. It helps us sort out and even change our thinking,” Johnston stated.
“Writing creates an interruption between something that’s happening and our thoughts about it. This interruption can regulate our nervous system and clarify how we want to respond. I think of writing as a disaster preventionist: It ever-so-subtly closes the emotional floodgates and keeps us from reacting,” she added.
Johnston also notes that labeling emotions—whether through words or emojis—can help calm the brain by shifting focus from threat detection to meaning-making. “From a brain perspective, with a difficult experience such as arguing with a loved one or crashing a bicycle, pain isn’t the only damaging agent. It’s also our concepts of what that experience means,” she said.
“But when we label emotions, like pain, with a grimacing emoji or a colorful phrase, we give them physical form. Our brains can shift from threat-detection mode to making meaning,” Johnston explained.
She believes resilience is not simply an innate trait but something that can be developed through practice—including regular writing activities ranging from grocery lists to dissertations. “Yes, I see resilience as something we practice every time we write. Whether it’s a postcard, a dissertation or a tenure file, we take risks and enact change,” Johnston said.
Johnston encourages students to sometimes write by hand rather than type because handwriting activates different cognitive processes and may enhance memory retention and critical thinking skills—a finding supported by research referenced in NPR (https://www.npr.org/2022/10/17/1129130276/note-taking-by-hand-laptops).
She points out that while traditional forms of writing may seem less common today, people continue to write frequently through digital communication such as emails, texts, and social media posts—and global literacy rates have increased over time.
“We also need to embrace a broader understanding of what writing does. Yes, it communicates. But it also helps us regulate, think and create meaning,” Johnston said.
For students in STEM fields who may not view themselves as writers, Johnston emphasizes that written communication is essential across all disciplines for sharing knowledge and participating professionally.
Reflecting on her own academic journey—which included overcoming personal struggles—Johnston credits exposure to powerful literature for helping her realize the value of bearing witness through writing: “The very existence of their [Chrystos’] writing was evidence that Chrystos wasn’t consumed by trauma. They were doing what writing does for people: bearing witness, refusing silence, transforming pain, regulating.”
She concluded by noting how sharing her story on paper enabled others to connect with her experiences: “I made it possible for someone else to see me and perhaps see themselves.”
