Good Life Project Why Secrets Wreck Us: a Science-backed Practice to Reveal and Heal | James W. Pennebaker
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May 1, 2025 AI Snips
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Secrets Amplify Trauma's Health Risks
- Keeping traumatic experiences secret amplifies health risks like cancer and high blood pressure.
- Disclosure of trauma, especially sexual trauma, is uniquely suppressed, worsening physical symptoms.
Silent Trauma's Life Disruption
- A woman abused by her stepfather kept silent to protect her mother and faced profound life disruptions.
- Secrets from trauma disrupt social, eating, and sleep patterns and increase risk behaviors like substance use.
Researcher Becomes Confidant
- After publishing his writing study, James often met strangers sharing their trauma stories with him.
- He became fascinated and felt like an amateur clinical psychologist through these interactions.