Writing Poetry: A Coping Mechanism for the Mental Health of High School Students

Abstract

With the recent pandemic of Covid-19 sweeping through the United States, it has been proven that its impact has negatively affected individuals’ mental health. Recent research has shown that adolescents, specifically high school students, are particularly mentally impacted by social isolation experienced due to remote learning, fear of contracting the virus, and other factors. As a teenager, I too noticed a negative decline in my mental health and naturally fell into writing poetry as a way to cope with everything I was experiencing during remote learning. This newfound coping mechanism piqued my interest and I began to wonder if other high school students would also benefit from writing poetry. This thus led to my research question which is “What is the impact of writing poetry when used by high school students as a coping mechanism in support of mental health?” Poetry therapy is used as treatment for different reasons by psychologists as it provides neuroscientific perspectives, flexible treatments, and many more beneficial aspects. The methodology that I determined best fit my research was an experimental pre-post study. In this study, participants wrote a minimum five-line poem per day over a three-week period in addition to completing four surveys: a mental health questionnaire, two poetry perception surveys, and a daily survey. In terms of future research, medical professionals who have experience with poetry therapy can refine this coping mechanism of writing poetry to then recommend it to patients to engage with in their own time outside of counseling sessions.