Write to Calm: How College Students Use Writing to Manage Stress and Anxiety

Write to Calm: How College Students Use Writing to Manage Stress and Anxiety

Alvin Sherman Library

Writing has gained attention for its mental health benefits, particularly among high-stress populations, such as adolescents and young adults. College students, facing academic pressures, social challenges, and transitions to adulthood, are an ideal group for studying the potential therapeutic impact of this practice. This study explores how college students use writing as a tool to manage stress and anxiety. The different forms of writing therapy, a technique involving writing to process emotions and experiences, that are explored in this study include free-form journaling, expressive writing (e.g., letters, personal essays, etc.), creative writing (e.g., poetry, stories, etc.), and structured writing, which are among the most common forms of this practice.

This study analyzes student experiences through a survey and interviews to explore the specific writing methods college students use and the perceived benefits on their mental well-being. The study aims to identify common patterns in the most effective and most preferred forms of writing and barriers in the adoption of writing therapy as a coping strategy.

Ultimately, the findings—different forms of writing provided varying benefits, with journaling being the most familiar and most used—suggested the integration of writing therapy into wellness initiatives, promoting healthier coping mechanisms and improving overall student well-being. The goal is to provide empirical evidence on the effectiveness of writing therapy for stress and anxiety management within this demographic. This research can inform campus counseling and mental health programs and contribute to the development of accessible, low-cost, and self-guided therapeutic interventions tailored to college students’ needs.