Why Reading is Good for You
Hi Bookish Besties!
Do you ever feel like you are overwhelmed and just need to escape reality? Well, you are not alone in these feelings. Most of the time I find that reading is my safe heaven. It distracts me from life’s stressor and allows me to return to a healthy and happy place.
My husband and I recently moved to the golden state of California! After living on islands for the last 8 years, we understood that the weather would be a bit different, but overall, we thought this would be the perfect middle ground before moving to a colder state. We were told it would be “Sunny and 75” and only ran 5 days in the whole year, but so far, California has not lived up to its promises. I did not imagine that I would have an issue with this, but I did not realize that I would miss the island sun as much as I do. I had no idea that it would affect my mood as much as it has. As we are now entering into the month the locals call “June Gloom,” I decided I needed to research what would keep my spirits high because I knew that the gloom would hit me hard and would probably leave me feeling depressed. As reading is one of my treasured escapes, I thought it would be beneficial for me to understand why that is.
If you want to learn more about how and why reading is good for you, come with me as we discover its benefits!
Bibliotherapy is a therapeutic approach to where books are used to support individual’s mental health. While this therapy can be initiated by a mental health provider, I believe that many of us unknowingly use books as a form of therapy when life gets hard. For example, you need to laugh so you pick up a rom com, you are grieving so you grab a book about loss, or you need to escape today’s world and you grab a fantasy book. There is always a book focusing on what you need when you need it.
My anxiety has been heightened recently and I was feeling ashamed of it. I picked up Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez and felt so incredibly seen. The main male character suffers with GAD, generalized anxiety disorder, which I have. Being able to read about his anxious thoughts made me feel less alone in mine. This is one of the many reasons why books are so amazing.
They can help us process and validate our emotions in unexpected ways.
The National Alliance on Mental Health, California, wrote an article of the ways reading can benefit us. They answered our question with 4 responses – reduces stress, provides a health escape, gives us understanding, and allows us to relate to others. Let’s break these down.
Reduces Stress
By opening a book, you allow yourself to be distracted by life’s daily stresses. Reading for fun can relax your body and ease tension. The University of Sussex did a study in 2009 that showed reading reduces stress up to 68%. It does this by letting your mind escape reality into a world of literary fiction. All you need to do is to find a book you enjoy, something that makes you want to continue to read. If you pick up a book that you are not clicking with it, it is okay. I would highly recommend that you put it down and find something else. With the right book, reading can reduce your stress significantly!
Provides a Healthy Escape
There are many different ways to escape your thoughts. Some people watch tv or movies, others knit or crotchet. But these activities also allow your mind to wonder. Because of this, reading is one of the best and most unique way to escape reality. When opening a book, your mind begins to create the world you are reading. You picture what the environment and characters look like to how the talk to each other all in your head. It can be the perfect distracted from the real world as it truly allows you to escape into a world of its own.
Gives Us Understanding
Reading can be a powerful tool as it can help change your way of thinking. Many people experience negative thoughts or have trouble understanding other’s intentions. Books can give a reader a new perspective on certain situations through the art of storytelling. Because of this, reading improves an individual’s ability to understand what others are thinking and feeling. It can also allow an individual to change their way of thinking from a negative thought to one that is more balanced.
Allows Us to Relate to Others
My therapist once told me that your mind can feel like a scary place to traverse on your own. Sometimes life can feel overwhelming because you feel like you are alone in it. Reading gives us the insight that we are not alone. The ability authors possess to be able to write real human emotions and thoughts are amazing. When you are feeling alone, reading a book about a character that is experiencing a similar emotion or situation to you can be very comforting. It supports the idea that you are not alone, that we all experience hard times or difficult situations and that we can make it to the other side.
Reading can be an amazing tool to the path of resilience, understanding, and self-discovery. While those are some of the main benefits, they are not the only ones. Books can bring us happiness, laughter, and community. If we let the pages of books be our guiding light out of the darkness, they will illuminate the road to a healthier you. We can find solace from the world and be reminded that there are better days ahead. Amidst the ebb and flow of life, we are truly never alone in the world of books.
How does reading improve your life?
Lots of Love,
Kylie
Articles I used when researching:
