Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Confiding

. . . most people naturally discuss daily and significant experiences with others.  Even major traumas such as the death of a friend, a shared natural disaster, or a house fire are usually discussed in detail with close friends.  Less socially acceptable traumas, however, can be far more difficult to confide:  marital infidelity, embezzlement, being the perpetrator or victim of rape . . . talking about a trauma with others can strengthen social bonds, provide coping information and emotional support, and hasten understanding of the event, the inability to talk with others can be unhealthy for a number of reasons . . .
Confession, Inhibition and Disease
James W. Pennebaker (1989)
Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 22

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