Floyd 1

Javon Floyd

Writing to relieve stress

In 2018 my former classmate John, was rolled from school on a carrier to the back of an
ambulance truck. I knew John in middle school, he was one of the top kids in the class. I haven't
seen a time where he never had an A honor roll and was always smiling from class to class like it
was a breeze, not until we went to the same high school. He has changed menatlly and
physically. His hair already started to change colors from brown to gray, pimples covering his
face in all different sizes, and droopy eyes twenty-four seven. I made sure to catch up with him
after school in the parking lot before he got on the bus. I wanted to know what's going on. “Man
school is just eating me up” he told me with a crackle in his voice. As time went on John had
noticed some symptoms like chest pain and an upset stomach. His body was aching day in and
day out. There were many times he would text me and would say “My mom is going to pick me
up” when I would ask if he could sit with me at lunch. I never understood why until two weeks
later. He came to me during lunch one day as i'm munching on my pizza and mac n cheese and
started to release all of his anger he had about school all while spitting on me and my food. “The
teachers are sooo bad” or “Why did they give us this test, we are not going to need this at all in
the future.” John had been suffering from the silent killer, stress. One of the top causes of death,
once I got home after school I looked up “ways to reduce stress”. I noticed that writing came up
in every single article. I was curious as to why this might be.

There are many ways writing can relieve stress and with expressive writing being the top used
style. It appears that both the act of thinking about an experience and the act of expressing
feelings are significant. Writing can help people organize their thoughts and provide meaning to a
painful experience in this way. Alternatively, the act of writing may help individuals learn to
better control their emotions. I had to tell John the next day.