The psychophysiology of narrating distressing experiences

We examined patterns of psychophysiological arousal related to remembering and narrating distressing events, as compared to arousal while engaged in positive and neutral recall tasks. Narrating distressing events entailed increased arousal relative to remembering those events. Analyses of combined data showed that aggregate arousal during narration was related to post-narration reports of distress and self-perceptions. These results support conceptions of narration as an effortful form of regulation, and suggest insights about the process through which narrative construction may promote psychological and physiological benefits.