We all know that poetry is not everyone's cup of tea. But according to Dr. James Stewart.
Hello!
Hello! If you are suffering from anxiety or depression, poetry may be the solution to your problems. Dr. Stewart, how does poetry help?
Em, OK! Look, let me give you an example. A patient came into our clinic last month. He was a middle-aged businessmen, and he was feeling, well, like most middle-aged businessmen, really stressed and with his life out of control. He talked to me about it, and, well, I was convinced that medication just wouldn't help him. Then I read him a poem called Leisure by WHDavis. Do you know the one? It begins, er...
I do, yes.
What is this life, er, so full of. It is so or if...
I think it's if.
If full of care, that's it, yes. We have no time to stand and stare. Well, you know the one. The next time he came to see me, he told me that, well, it was a sort of turning point for him. The poem made him think about the quality of his life and the need to find a balance between his work and his social life. Er, you see, because the idea was expressed poetically, he felt that he could identify with it, and actually feel the message in a way that he wouldn't if he simply discussed it with me. And we just had the usual kind of conversation about it.
Yes, I see.
You see, reading poetry to patients seems to make them calmer. Encouraging them to write it has an even more dramatic effect, actually. Era, there.., there are something about the process of expressing confused thoughts and feelings and emotions in writing that actually helps people or suffering from stress and anxiety. This happens especially if the words are written in a poetical way with a sense of rhythm rather than in prose, you see. Er, now, for a long time, we've been asking patients to write diaries to put their feelings into words. But it turns out that writing poetry seems to work much better for many patients.
Right, and have you found that other doctors and therapists have made the same discoveries?
Yes, many of my colleagues have successfully used poetry with patients suffering from anxiety or depression or even eating disorders. I mean their patients said that, that reading poetry made them feel less stressed. You know, almost as many said that writing it has the same effect. You see, some said that writing poetry reduced the pain they felt when a friend or a close relation had died extraordinarily!
Yes, it certainly is!
Era. Others thought that it enabled them to reduce or stop taking antidepressants or tranquillizers. And writing poetry helps them to provide a sort of outlet for their emotions.
Em, that's fascinating! Can you give any explanation as to why poetry might be calming in this way?
Well, it's only a guess. But I say that the calming effect of poetry is related to an interplay between the left and right hemispheres of the brain, the.., you probably know the left half is the one which analyzes and responds to language while the right one visualizes images and responds to rhythm. Now, I believe that poetry may activate the system at the base of the brain where thoughts meet emotions, you see.
Do you think that people need a doctor to prescribe particular poems for particular conditions?
No, no, no. I think poetry can help everyone to feel calm and less stressed. People who read poetry tend not to be anxious and stressed, probably because they are in touch with their emotions. I mean they certainly don't need a doctor to tell them which poems to read.
Thank you very much, Dr. Stewart.
You are welcome.