Through the interdependence of sciences and humanities, it has been confirmed that creative writing also has some therapeutic elements.
According to the famous Swiss-German Renaissance physician, alchemist and philosopher, Paracelsus; “Medicine is not only a science; it is also an art.” This statement underscores the physiological and anatomical aspects of medicine and the intricacies and dynamism of human life. Examining medicine from this perspective reveals that the healing process combines biological, psychological, and sociological factors.
Nonetheless, literature is relevant for human medicine and a tool for social medicine since it gives readers doses of empathy, altruism, and critical thinking, strengthening their social consciousness.
As the renowned writer and journalist Graham Greene put it, “Writing is a form of therapy; sometimes I wonder how all those who do not write, compose, or paint can manage to escape the madness, melancholia, the panic, and fear which is inherent in a human situation.” Indeed, human nature is rife with a myriad of emotions, both negative and positive.
Therefore, writing serves to dissipate such emotions and achieve clarity.
Perhaps, this fact is more obvious in the creative process of writing of biographies and autobiographies.
Often, autobiographies emerge from journaling. Personal journals are the ideal source material for great autobiographies. After all, journals allow autobiographers to go back in time to see their state of mind at the time of writing. From there, hindsight can begin to make sense of it all.
It has been confirmed that writing an autobiography is great therapy. Psychologists often recommend that their patients write their thoughts and feelings. The aim is for individuals to make sense of their emotions by articulating them.
Even though these thoughts might initially lack clarity and direction, nevertheless, they begin to take shape as the writing process continues.
Writing biographies and autobiographies are processes that require the author to explore their emotions at various junctions of their life.
However, the autobiographical process reviews the author’s life with the benefit of hindsight. Hence, the healing process can consequently emerge.
Academy Award-winning actor Sidney Poitier once remarked, “My autobiography was simply the story of my life.” Indeed, an autobiography is testament to a life well-lived. However, some erroneously believe that an autobiography’s subject must be a celebrity or wealthy person.
The truth is that anyone can write an autobiography. After all, there is nothing egocentric about chronicling one’s journey through life. The ups and downs that characterise lives provide sufficient reason to produce an autobiography.
In her seminal paper, “The Health Benefits of Autobiographical Writing; An Interdisciplinary Perspective,” Jussi Valtonen of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Helsinki concluded that; “a large body of experimental evidence in the empirical sciences shows that writing about life experiences can be beneficial for mental and physical health”.
Valtonen argued that the narratological concept of conflict can be applied to resolve patterns of seemingly conflicting empirical findings in psychological studies.
More generally, she proposed that an interdisciplinary perspective can provide a broader theoretical basis for understanding the psychological processes underlying the health benefits of autobiographical writing and provide directions for future research in psychology and biomedicine.
In the course of my twenty-year journey as a biographer and in some cases, a ghost writer who has assisted many people to write their biographies, memoirs and autobiographies, I have discovered that biography writing can be a nerve- wracking experience.
It can also be fun. Part of the challenges of this onerous task include last minute canceled appointments, unanswered phone calls, delay in responses to text messages and emails, difficult interviewees and surprisingly, funding issues.
My happiness is that my products – biographies, memoirs and autobiographies have contributed immensely to the mental health and overall well-being of my subjects who are mostly high achievers and public figures.
Through interviews with the subjects, their family members, former classmates, former teachers, friends, professional colleagues, political leaders and associates at home and abroad, my subjects were able to use their power of recall to delve into their past and reveal insights into their motivations, emotions and the challenges they have faced.
In addition, visits to the subject’s home towns, schools attended, former places of work as well as research into their personal archives and diaries made it easier for the subjects to recall details and emotions that might have been long forgotten.
This enhanced process of memory recall, definitely led to mental clarity, deeper understanding of themselves as well as a powerful tool for self development and healing.
In the course of my self-imposed profession, I have had to put up with a lot of hassles. From last minute canceled appointments, to scary travelling itineraries, an interview conducted in the middle of a political campaign rally as well as an angry wife who had protested about my interviewing their husband’s girl friends!
This is apart from the fact that the job takes you away from family and friends and turns you into an antisocial animal who is always cocooned in his writing world.
On the other hand, I also had some good moments. Apart from interviewing and dining with the high and mighty in the land, my assignments have also taken me to places such as far flung places such as Russia, UK, and the US apart from several Nigerian cities where I made countless and invaluable friends.
In conclusion, autobiographical/biographical writing has a lot of therapeutically benefits for writers and subjects.
As a writer, nothing in the business surpasses the exhilaration of the writing itself. Hunched over my laptop in the twilight or wee hours of the day, I enjoy the thrill of piercing together the fragments of other people’s stories, drilling into their beings like a surgeon working in the innards of a patient. I am also a historian of some sort for every biography is unique in its own way and the art of researching and writing it, a historical journey.
More importantly, by allowing subjects to explore their past, confront emotional wounds, reconstruct timelines, the process can lead to improved cognitive function and emotional well-being.
It is thus a very valuable tool for mental and physical health through a reshaped narrative that can help in healing and personal development.
* Dr. Okediran is the Secretary General, Pan African Writers Association (PAWA)
