Abriena Bains, 14, a freshman at Oakmont High School, has been accepted into the Iowa Young Writers Studio writing program. Bains speculates her writing and poetry began with an inability to sleep.

When asked what career path she wants, Bains usually says lawyer, but lately, she’s been leaning more toward creative writing.

“I don’t really have a definitive career path,” Bains said. “I usually say lawyer, but more recently I’ve been liking creative writing. ”So if it’s possible I’d like to be an author, maybe write some poetry books, or just anything that has to do with creative writing.”

In her free time, Bains likes to write and polish up her work; when she’s not doing that, she likes to read dystopian novels. 

A proud moment for Bains was when she was accepted into the Iowa Young Writers Studio as a freshman. 

“They do generally favor the juniors and seniors, so I thought that was really cool,” Bains said.

Bains started creative writing in seventh grade, and it started as a type of coping mechanism.

“It’s a really strange story that I’ve never shared with anybody,” Bains said. “But when I was in seventh grade, I’m 99% certain that I had some sort of anxiety. It’s really hard for me to fall asleep.” So my cousin, who’s from Canada, was in town for a little bit, and she was like, ‘One way you can fall asleep and you can get everything off your mind is to just write things down.’ So I started doing that, and I started making it more poetic, and I don’t know if that was because I was doing it or if that was just subconscious, but that’s what started it. And I just realized I was kind of good at it, and then I just kept doing it.”

Bains has been writing poetic works for about two years now, and she confirmed that it relieves her stress. This begs the question: Could writing help other teens cope with anxiety or insomnia? 

An article from Purdue University, “Looking for a way to help reduce stress, anxiety? Journaling might be worth a try” provided support that it potentially could.

“Writing in a diary or journaling has long been a tradition to help outwardly express thoughts and emotions, which can also help reduce stress and anxiety,” the article stated.

Additionally, there’s evidence that writing also helps relieve insomnia. The National Library of Medicine published an article, “Insomnia in Adolescence,”  which helps shed light on the potential benefits of journaling or writing before bed.

“One seemingly counterintuitive solution to bedtime worry and rumination is to write about what is on one’s mind,” the article said. “Though one might intuit that writing could reinforce worrying and increase rumination, many studies now show that writing benefits mental health, classroom success, and even physiological markers of autonomic, muscular, and immune function.” 

It seems a lot of teens could benefit from Bains’ coping mechanism, as nearly 1 in 3 kids between the ages of 13 to 18 will experience anxiety of some sort, and roughly 23.8% of adolescents suffer from insomnia.

If so many teens are suffering from these conditions, perhaps it would be beneficial for them to write as a way to relax and cope.