Table of Contents
Is reading books good for depression?
Reading fiction can help you feel more connected and can help people who may be dealing with depression or anxiety. It allows your imagination to become more engaged and you connect emotionally to characters and reflect your own feelings, problems and desires as you read. With that having been said, reading too much self-help literature can encourage an obsession with ourselves and with our inner life, and, in such cases, our thinking is apt to be more like anxious rumination. Reading consistently strengthens connections in the brain, improves memory and concentration, and may even help you live longer. Reading can also reduce stress levels and prevent age-related cognitive decline. To read more, set aside time every day to pick up a book, whether it’s during your commute or before bed. We continue to be formed and reformed throughout life by our subsequent relationships, so another person – a therapist will probably have more of an impact upon us than a book. This makes therapy a more powerful tool than a self-help book. There are similarities between going to therapy and reading self-help books. Both help people become better versions of themselves, live happier lives, succeed more and learn about life. A person who reads everyday gets better at it over time. Not surprisingly, daily readers also gain more enjoyment from it than those that read less often. It can even improve memory and critical thinking skills. And activities like reading have been linked to a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
Can reading reduce depression?
Reading fiction can help you feel more connected and can help people who may be dealing with depression or anxiety. It allows your imagination to become more engaged and you connect emotionally to characters and reflect your own feelings, problems and desires as you read. Stanford University researchers have found that close literary reading in particular gives your brain a workout in multiple complex cognitive functions, while pleasure reading increases blood flow to different areas of the brain. I read fiction for pleasure but self-help for me is all about the ideas. Most non-fiction is full of fluff to reach a respectable number of pages. We know being concise makes a message much clearer but paradoxically we won’t pay $10 for a 5-page book. It takes roughly 7 hours to read a 250-page book. Reading is a beneficial activity. But reading too much can also kill your brain’s productivity especially when no new meanings are created. If you are simply reading without deeper processing, you don’t benefit much from it.
Does reading improve mental health?
It can reduce stress. “Reading can even relax your body by lowering your heart rate and easing the tension in your muscles. A 2009 study at the University of Sussex found that reading can reduce stress by up to 68%.” Reading a book before bed helps reduce anxiety and stress levels, which have been found to be some of the reasons behind insomnia. On top of this, reading increases the levels of serotonin and melatonin, which could help patients with insomnia get in the right mood to fall asleep. Adverse reactions to reading matter — fear, obsession, guilt — may be amplified, and readers may become more susceptible to emulating negative behaviors. Reading may serendipitously help these individuals but it may conceivably make them feel worse. A growing body of research indicates that reading literally changes your mind. Using MRI scans, researchers have confirmed that reading involves a complex network of circuits and signals in the brain. As your reading ability matures, those networks also get stronger and more sophisticated.
Can reading books increase serotonin?
Reading a book before bed helps reduce anxiety and stress levels, which have been found to be some of the reasons behind insomnia. On top of this, reading increases the levels of serotonin and melatonin, which could help patients with insomnia get in the right mood to fall asleep. There’s no denying that books can help you dream big, day or night. But diving into the pages of a book before bed might help you relax before you crawl between your sheets. Reading before bed, then, could promote restful sleep, and maybe even more interesting dreams. Reading Improves Brain Function A person who reads everyday gets better at it over time. Not surprisingly, daily readers also gain more enjoyment from it than those that read less often. It can even improve memory and critical thinking skills. Reading has a positive effect on our mental health, while watching TV has the exact opposite effect. Reading can reduce stress, lower our blood pressure, our heart rate and muscle tension. On top of the knowledge boost reading provides us with, it also has a healing effect on our mental state. Mental health books cannot replace therapy or treatment, especially if you’ve been diagnosed with a mental health condition. But they can be a helpful add-on to your healing journey.
Can I read books instead of therapy?
Mental health books cannot replace therapy or treatment, especially if you’ve been diagnosed with a mental health condition. But they can be a helpful add-on to your healing journey. Studies have shown that cognitive therapy is as efficacious as antidepressant medications at treating depression, and it seems to reduce the risk of relapse even after its discontinuation. Medications and psychotherapy are effective for most people with depression. Your primary care doctor or psychiatrist can prescribe medications to relieve symptoms. However, many people with depression also benefit from seeing a psychiatrist, psychologist or other mental health professional. While a journal cannot replace a therapist, it can be therapeutic. What a journal can do is help you to notice patterns in your behaviour and emotional responses. It’s an opportunity to reflect on your experiences, feelings, thoughts and behaviour.