Researchers have explained that writing can diminish the traumas associated with cancer, including depression, anxiety, and despair. The findings of the study were published on Monday in the "Palliative Medicine" journal.

Currently, approximately 700,000 individuals in the United States suffer from metastatic cancer or stage four cancer, which has spread to multiple organs, according to the National Cancer Institute.

However, most mental health treatments are designed to assist patients in the earlier stages, which are often curable, aiming to help them overcome the fear of recurrence or progression of the disease. The new study focused on 29 adults diagnosed with stage three or four cancer, or incurable leukemia; wherein they were provided an opportunity to express their fears through writing their stories. The participants engaged in 5 sessions via the "Zoom" app, each session lasting one hour, where they discussed their greatest cancer-related fears, including fear of pain and the prospect of leaving their children behind.

After the first session, they were asked to write a story with a beginning and an end, expressing their feelings toward this challenging scenario. In the final sessions, they were encouraged to assess the realism of the scenario in their story and work towards writing a better ending.

The researchers found that levels of trauma, anxiety, depression, fear of death, fatigue, and even despair showed significant improvement after the writing therapy, with the improvement persisting for five and a half months after the study. Melissa Sanchez, a mother of four who joined the trial to address her panic attacks and anxiety following her diagnosis with stage three skin cancer, after undergoing three surgical operations and 16 rounds of immunotherapy, shared her experience.

Melissa said, "I was living my life pretending everything was okay and burying it." She added that she had not experienced a panic attack since the treatment and feels physically well, wishing she had started writing earlier.

"I remember that first day I was crying, and my voice was buried deep within me, but writing helped me take control of my feelings, and I now feel at peace with things," she added.

The study's lead researcher at the University of Colorado's Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dr. Joanna Arch, commented that the writing exercise might be challenging, especially for cancer patients in advanced stages who are dealing with anxiety and other mental health issues, considering it an effective therapeutic option. She added on the university's website, "Writing about traumatic experiences might be easier than talking about them aloud, especially with someone you do not know well."