The case

Jotting down your thoughts and experiences by hand allows you to process emotions directly and let them go – and makes you happy.

Source: Claudia Schmid, Tagesanzeiger,16 April 2025; Pam A. Muller & Daniel M. Oppenheimer: The Pen is Mightier than the Pen; 
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797614524581

The commentary

Writing down your thoughts and experiences by hand has a complex effect on the brain as the connectivity patterns of the brain are more sophisticated than when typing the same text on a keyboard because many more areas are activated and new connections are formed. The specific brain regions involved are those responsible for the cognitive processes of seeing and recognizing, the emotional processes of experiencing as well as language formation and movement.

Since the research by Pam A. Muller & Daniel M. Oppenheimer, it has also been known that things written down by hand are easier to remember. According to Texas psychology professor James Pennebaker, who established ‘therapeutic journaling’ in the 1970s, writing down your thoughts can even have a positive effect on the immune system and lower blood pressure.

So grab pen and paper!

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