Therapeutic writing in a programme for binge eating disorder-A tool to come closer to clarifying feelings.
Eileen Oftedal, Venke Ueland, Kristine Rørtveit
PMID 35735107WHAT IT FOUND
Patients described therapeutic writing as a way to uncover hidden feelings driving binge eating.
They found documenting food intake difficult but essential for seeing patterns. Group discussion after writing helped them articulate emotions they could not express alone.
Key findings
01Participants struggled to write when emotionally overwhelmed but found value in the process regardless of their writing skill.
02Documenting food intake provided an impartial overview of eating patterns and helped reveal the emotional function of overeating.
03Group discussion following individual writing helped participants articulate feelings they had not yet identified themselves.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study included only eight participants, mostly women, from a single local programme, so the findings are not generalisable. The researchers acknowledged a bias towards highlighting positive experiences, potentially underreporting negative aspects of the writing exercises. As a qualitative study of experiences, it cannot determine whether the writing intervention caused clinical improvement or reduced binge eating symptoms.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that therapeutic writing is an evidence-based treatment that reduces binge eating. This study describes patients' subjective experiences of the writing process within a multi-component programme; it does not measure clinical outcomes or isolate the effect of writing from cognitive behavioural therapy.