Reddit reviews Opening Up, Second Edition: The Healing Power of Expressing Emotions

I'd guess you should talk to her and let her know that you know. Otherwise I'd assume she's carrying around guilt about not telling you, which has no value since you now know it happened.

Also, thank the older brother for paying. It is not good for babies to be born into the sort of chaos you're describing emerging from.

Edit: Pennebaker's "Opening Up" describes the negative health consequences of carrying secrets around. I expect her to incur those consequences if she's keeping the abortion secret from you.

James Pennebaker has a book about the subject too, if anyone's interested in further reading.

Pennebaker's "Opening Up" describes a procedure that has helped me at times. Spend a half hour a day writing down your thoughts, trying to construct a narrative that describes both the emotional and practical aspects of whatever-it-is. Repeat until it is boring.

Another thing that helped me a great deal was getting married. The important thing is a stable relationship and not being lonely, not the government and religiously approved contract.

Exercise helps too.

Clinical-depression.co.uk points to claims that sleep disruption leads to rumination which in terms leads to sleep disruption the next night, and the cycle is called depression. This points at several options to fix it, but one thing that helps is to realise that the rumination is a consequence of the poor sleep, not evidence that the thing being ruminated about is a real problem.

That contact and care will become more and more valuable to you as you age. You might also find James Pennebaker's book Opening Up: The Healing Power of Expressing Emotions to be helpful. (The expressing of the emotions is done via a private journal, and in a way he describes in the book.) Thanks for the post.