How Reading Improves your Mental Health

Yesterday, Saturday 10th October 2020, was World Mental Health Day; a day aimed at raising awareness about the prevalence of mental health illnesses and starting efforts in support of mental health. I love reading and I know I can always turn to a book whenever I need to, so this got me wondering if there is a connection between reading and improved mental well-being...

...and it turns out, there is! In fact, bibliotherapy is quite an unknown yet successful method of therapy whereby you structure reading into your daily life, either by yourself or with the help of others, with the aim of improving your mental health. It

has been proven that this method does work; reading for as little as 6 minutes a day can reduce stress levels by up to 60%, according to Dr. David Lewis. This is because the act of reading lowers your heart rate, blood pressure, and distressing psychological feelings just as effectively, and sometimes more than, things such as yoga, listening to music, or going for a walk.

Not only does it reduce these physical side effects of stress and depression, but reading fiction is incredibly beneficial for the emotional side as well because it allows you to escape from your reality and immerse yourself in a different world and being. Sir Roger Scruton, a British philosopher, once said:

"Consolation from imaginary things is not an imaginary consolation"

More and more studies are proving that using fiction as a method of escapism is extremely good for reducing feelings of depression and stress because of the ability it gives its reader to forget what is happening to them while also enabling them to have a better understanding of our shared humanity and shared struggles, sometimes helping them to feel less isolated.

However, it is not just fiction that is of use, but also non-fiction such as autobiographies and recovery narratives because they give hope as they often display the sufferings and hardships of having a mental health illness, but also the road to

recovery, thus showing the reader that people do understand what they are going through, and that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Studies such as those carried out by the University of Nottingham reveal that these narratives work because they increase how connected someone feels to recovery, validate personal struggles, and reduce the stigma surrounding what someone is experiencing. This is probably why the NHS has begun 'Reading Well, Books on Prescription' which is a programme whereby health professionals recommend books to their patients, who can then visit their local library and take them out for free, clearly showing how beneficial reading can be to improve mental health.

If this shows anything, it shows that books are an invaluable resource we have which hold great potential to help with improving the mental health of so many people. Over lockdown, there has been a spike in the mental health crisis with 2/3 of adults and 3/4 of children with existing mental health problems experiencing a worsening in their condition, and 1 in 5 adults who have never struggled with their mental health before, reporting having poor mental health. With the NHS and mental health helplines already overflowing with calls, making it difficult for people to access support, bibliotherapy seems like a good, easy way for us to start making our lives happier and less stressful. When his beloved younger sister died, the famous Victorian writer, Thomas Macaulay, wrote: "that I have not utterly sunk under this blow, I owe chiefly to literature. Literature has saved my life and my reason."