ABSTRACT

Research has shown that writing can help reduce anxiety in individuals who have experienced trauma or complicated grief. This small case study asked if writing could also reduce anxiety in those bereaved by addiction. For this study, thirteen individuals who experienced increased anxiety as a result of bereavement by addiction completed two semi-structured interviews and responded to ten writing prompts over four weeks. Thematic analysis was used to analyze interview transcripts and narrative analysis was used to analyze participants’ writing. Findings from this study suggest that writing decreased anxiety for six participants by helping them to identify intrusive ruminations and by demonstrating the progress they had made since the death of their loved one. However, more research is needed to understand why writing reduced anxiety for only half of these participants and to understand how writing might be more effectively used as a therapeutic intervention for individuals bereaved by addiction.

摘要

研究表明，写作可以帮助减轻经历过创伤或复杂悲伤的人的焦虑。这个小型案例研究询问写作是否也可以减轻那些因成瘾而丧亲的人的焦虑。在这项研究中，13 名因成瘾丧亲而焦虑加剧的人完成了两次半结构化访谈，并在四个星期内对十个写作提示做出了回应。主题分析用于分析访谈记录，叙事分析用于分析参与者的写作。这项研究的结果表明，写作可以帮助六名参与者识别侵入性的沉思，并展示他们在亲人去世后取得的进步，从而减少焦虑。然而，