Other research has demonstrated the healing power of forgiveness, which is not letting someone off the hook or trusting an abuser or forgetting the past. Forgiveness is resolving the bitterness, resentment, anger, and frustration, within oneself. Forgiveness is removing the physiological thorn that causes ongoing emotional pain and chronic activation of the body's stress pathways. In other words, forgiveness heals the one who was wronged; it done not change the one who did wrong. For those who forgive, a history of significant life stress was not a predictor of poor mental health. In women who were abused by their spouses, it was those who not only set boundaries and put an end to the abuse but also forgave who experienced resolution of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Forgiving those who wrong us is healing to us!
Timothy R. Jennings, "The Aging Brain," pages 40-41
