Writing Can Be Helpful for Your Mental Health

When I first started writing my wife said damn, I'm glad you started writing, now I don't have to listen to all your complaining. That’s when I realized the importance of writing and have been doing it ever since. Writing has allowed me an opportunity to get my frustrations out. In 2016 I was fortunate enough to be selected by the Writers Guild of America to attend their veteran’s writing group in LA. It was a weekend seminar with Hollywood writers as mentors. I learned how movies and TV shows were written and it was an eye-opener. After that adventure was over, I found the veteran writer’s group at Cal State San Bernardino (CSUSB). This group is sponsored by the veteran’s success center at CSUSB. They have helped me publish two books and keeps me motivated to write. 

For the last seven years, I have been writing this column and it has been therapeutic for me. It gives me a sense of accomplishment by believing I am changing the lives of my fellow veterans through information and education. I have introduced some of my clients to writing and it has had a lot of success. Writing serves multiple purposes. It gives the freedom to be yourself and open-up on things you were not prepared to talk about to family and friends. So many veterans feel they cannot talk to others for fear of judgment.

What I have found is people can write their stories any way they want. They own their stories and can put as much or as little as they want. This allows them to get their thoughts and their feelings out offering them a sense of relief. Many of them have started opening-up to their families about their feelings creating a dialogue that they never had while building trust. This dialogue does not have to happen if you choose not to show it to others, many folks write for themselves never divulging their work. I have had multiple clients who use this distraction to help them get past their nightmares. They use writing to help them work through their negative thoughts, and it works.

Writing has many values; it can play a distraction to the everyday mundane things that frustrate you. This distraction can be anywhere from normal life situations, flashbacks, and memories of your past. If you're writing about those flashbacks and memories it serves as a way to get it out of your head so you can move forward. Many veterans in my veterans’ group do not write about their issues or feelings. Some of them write fantasies, some combat veterans write horror flicks. They use their combat as a positive thing distracting them from their real-life horrors.   

Not only can writing be a distraction it also allows for a free thought process to just vent your frustrations. So many times veterans get frustrated at what's going on in the world. It is therapeutic to get the feelings out by writing. So many veterans have told me in the past that they are not writers and they don't like to write, well neither did I and here I am. The main thing writing has done for me and my clients it has given us a sense of purpose, accomplishment, and emotional freedom.

I would challenge every veteran to start writing when they get frustrated. There is nothing wrong with sitting down and getting your thoughts and feelings down on paper. I have known multiple veterans who have started writing their life stories. Many of these veterans are in their 70s. They are grateful because it has given them an avenue to talk to their families about their lives. If you want to learn to write or want encouragement, please contact the veteran’s writers’ group at CSUSB. I will put their contact information below. If you would like to talk to me about this group, you can email me. Until then happy writing!

For questions or comments, you can contact me at afterdutyvets@gmail.com or visit my website at www.afterdutyvets.com, and subscribe to my YouTube channel After Duty Vets or like us on Facebook at After Duty Vets.