Why the Anonymous Posting of Secrets Can Be Therapeutic

No matter how well-rounded people appear to be, deep down there could be something that eats at them everyday. A secret that may or may not be a big deal to the rest of the world, but to that person, it means constant pain. Many people don't seek professional mental help, and feel like if they confide in a friend or family member, that person might judge them.

Post Secret is a blog, which posts mailed in secrets anonymously. Secrets are mailed in on any 4x6 sized postcards. The postcards can be bought, but most are made. Not all of them are secrets per se; some are fears, hopes, dreams, or acts of kindness.

Every Sunday, Post Secret is updated, with a new selection of secrets are posted to the page. Sending in these secrets is a way of venting, and finally being able to free oneself from the ties that bind. While this doesn't appear to be therapy, to the senders of the postcards, it is. Many people have submitted follow-ups that are posted below the postcards, describing how sending in their secret or reading someone else's helped them. There is no limit to the number of postcards that can be sent in at one time.

Post Secret is a page on the popular blog hosting site, Blogger.com. What started out as a few hand-made post cards mailed in and published online, has become a huge success, resulting in books with postcard secrets published throughout the pages. Post Secret books can be found at most bookstores, and can be ordered online.

Popular rock group, The All-American Rejects, used this concept of anonymous postcard secrets in their video for the song Dirty Little Secret, in 2005. The video shows average people on the street, holding a hand-made postcard in front of their faces that tells a secret or expresses feelings.

Another blog page, Not My Secrets, has taken this concept to another level. Inviting anonymous internet surfers to email an image they create, with text, which tells someone else's secret. The page is hosted by WordPress and is updated as secrets are emailed in. Post Secret and Not My Secrets have legal notices posted, as well as instructions for sending in secrets.

We all have a secret, feelings, or pent up emotion that can't easily be vented. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have someone they can trust, and tell these things to. Some people just don't want to tell another person face-to-face, due to embarrassment. While mailing in a secret to a website may not be the equivalent of seeing a licensed therapist, just getting it off your chest may be therapy enough, and can help you move forward.