While many of us would like to re-script these past four years, we can take an active role in moving forward. And yet, in some lives, personal sadness prevails. In writing a memoir, some people may wish to include sad memories even while attempting to turn the page on a particular chapter in one’s life. This can be troublesome, perhaps even trigger nightmares. Why then would someone wish to record them? It is a way of taking control and moving the memory to a more positive place or to a place that is no longer haunting.
In a randomized controlled trial on the effects of self-help imagery re-scripting on depression, researchers determined the following. According to Steffen Moritz et al (2018), in Behaviour Research and Therapy: Image Rescripting:*
- Improved negative emotions in face-to-face trials.
- Led to significant improvements on depression and quality of life.
- Was a useful self-help technique.
*National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health: “We cannot change the past, but we can change its meaning.“
How image rescripting fits into memoirs:
For people writing memoirs — who wish to include a difficult time in one’s life, it can be helpful to find one positive aspect as a simple way to edit the memory.
When I was conducting a memoir writing class for octogenarians several years ago, one somewhat challenging woman was still brooding about taking care of her baby sister. She complained that all of the children in her neighborhood were playing with baby dolls and she was stuck with “my real-life baby sister.” She felt the other girls were “looking down” on her. She still expressed anger with having to be in charge of her little sister.
Then, we began talking about how lucky she was that she had a real baby instead of a doll. As she began to compare her baby sister to the dolls, she remembered how much the baby made her laugh.
Eventually, when she retold the story, she imagined that all the girls were jealous of her and how much they wished that they could have had a real baby to play with. Her bitterness began to dissolve. Soon she began talking about how important she felt that her mother trusted her with a tiny baby. Although she could not change the memory of her past, she became a more cheerful person as she began to look at her situation from a gratitude point of view.
Finding the upside of an issue or situation is beneficial — for well being, for the sake of recording a memory, and for an attitude change. Expressing gratitude not only changes perspective, but has health benefits as well. Grateful people are found to be generally happier, with more social connections, and fewer bouts of depression.
Copyright 2021 Rita Watson