 First of all, it helps you understand what's stressing you out and give meaning to it. It also can kind of download it from mind, so it's less likely to pop up and distract you in the moment. And we've shown, for example, that people who are anxious about math, if they're given the ability to write about it before they go into a math test, can perform better. But there's a flip side. Negative self-talk can be devastating for performance. Musician Jennifer Montone learned to manage her negative self-talk with images.