"In the Telling, We Heal” — A Story Inspired by the Science of Storytelling and Mental Health

By Marie. July 28, 2025

Do you know? Telling a story can make you feel better? Not just emotionally—but physiologically.

Which is probably one of the reasons why social media is the noisiest platform for people with pentup emotions hoping to get released. (But take note, social media can also amplify negativity and contribute to emotional distress!)

Storytelling activates the brain’s reward system

--the act of shaping a narrative out of chaos — choosing a beginning, an arc, a resolution—mirrors cognitive restructuring techniques used in therapy. When we tell our stories, especially those rooted in emotion and memory, we release dopamine. The brain feels safe. The body exhales.

In cultures like ours, we’ve always known this instinctively

We told stories around plates of pancit, lumpia, lechon, while peeling garlic or stitching family names into banig mats. We didn’t call it healing, but that’s what it was. A form of communal repair. Each anecdote became a balm. A gentle way of saying, "I lived through this. Can you help me carry it?"

Science now confirms what our lolas and elders always knew:
- Storytelling improves mood and reduces cortisol
- It fosters empathy by triggering oxytocin
- It enhances memory retention through imagery and emotional resonance.

And most importantly, it gives us agency

When we tell our own story, we reclaim the narrative from silence or shame. We decide what gets remembered.

Writing from memory, then, isn’t nostalgia—it’s medicine.

It’s the kind that doesn’t come in tablets, but in paragraphs. In the rhythm of remembered footsteps. In the texture of grief turned into metaphor.

The act is simple. But the outcome? Transformative.

So today, I write not only to remember—but to repair.

And if you’re reading this: tell your story. Whether aloud, on paper, or to the wind. You may be surprised what it patches in you.