Blogging on the couch

A tweet from John Tropea altered me to this article in Scientific American on the therapeutic value of blogging. I’m not sure about some of the quotes however. Take this one: As social creatures, humans have a range of pain-related behaviors, such as complaining, which acts as a “placebo for getting satisfied. It gets worse: people with mania often talk too much no to mention People with Wernicke’s aphasia speak in gibberish and often write constantly. Now this is going too far. Why is it that psychologists always have to attribute any motivational factor to psychosis or guilt? Maybe we all just enjoy communicating? Mind you I can buy one quote: blogging might trigger dopamine release, similar to stimulants like music, running and looking at art. However much as I enjoy blogging its not going to replace my love for Wagner.