It goes without saying that us bookworms are already well aware of the joy a good book can bring. But it turns out that the benefits of reading go far beyond being able to immerse ourselves in an exhilarating story. And before you say anything, it’s not just our biassed opinion, it’s science.
According to experts, reading can be used as a form of therapy, often used in the treatment of depression, anxiety and other personal challenges. Called bibliotherapy, planned reading programs can be used as a form of psychotherapy to delay, prevent, or even partially alleviate certain mental health problems.
What is bibliotherapy and how can it be used?
Although the term ‘bibliotherapy’ was first coined in 1916 by writer Samuel Crothers, the use of books as stress-busters can be dated back to the Middle Ages.
However, it’s only within recent years that scientific evidence has emerged that validates the claims of OG bibliotherapists. A 2017 study, for instance, found that reading books can help maintain mental wellbeing and boost levels of happiness.
Dr Susan McLaine, a leading bibliotherapist from Melbourne, Australia, said: “Broadly, bibliotherapy uses books to help people deal with social, emotional and psychological challenges.
“I define bibliotherapy in the way I work as the practice of ‘using literature and storytelling as an effective wellbeing promotion approach that positively affects people as individuals and within their communities’.
“Using poetry, short stories and book excerpts, we can nurture participants’ personal growth and achieve wellbeing outcomes, helping them find connection and meaning, and a sense of possibility for the future.”
Dr Susan McLaine is a leading bibliotherapist from Melbourne, Australia.
What are the psychological benefits of reading?
Good news! You don’t actually need to be in therapy to reap the benefits of reading. Research has shown that reading even just six minutes a day can reduce stress by up to 68%. That’s almost as good as a bottle of wine and a Netflix binge!
Reading strengthens the neural circuits and pathways of our brain while lowering our heart rate and blood pressure, improving our quality of sleep and sharpening our mental awareness.
Reading gives us the ability to empathise and engage with diverse stories outside of our own lived experiences, bringing us a greater sense of human connection and empathy.
Professor Paul Crawford, Director of the Centre for Social Futures at the Institute of Mental Health, University of Nottingham, UK, said: “Reading groups aid social connectedness, something we know is very important to sustain our mental health.
“Quite aside from enjoyment, relaxation, a sense of purpose and structure to our day, all of which are important to achieving healthy minds, reading can help us to explore and express our emotions, generate new ideas or ways of thinking, and examine meaning in our lives.
“Many people now make good use of self-help books to help them deal with a variety of life’s mental health challenges or read fiction about particular mental states and behaviours to gain deeper insights into mental disorders.”
Professor Crawford recently led the What’s Up With Everyone? campaign with Academy-award winning Aardman Animations to support the mental health literacy of young people.
The What’s Up With Everyone Campaign supports the mental health literacy of young people.
“We call this mental health literacy—knowing how to gain positive mental health, understand mental disorders, when and how to access appropriate treatments, reduce stigma around this and learn to achieve our best possible lives despite such challenges.”
Books as vaccines for emotional distress
The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly been one of the biggest sources of emotional distress in recent years. With excruciating periods of isolation and anxiety, many have turned to books to escape the dumpster fire that is our reality.
In fact, despite book stores being closed for much of 2020, UK book sales defied the pandemic to hit an eight-year high.
More recently, a 2022 study found that bibliotherapy is an effective tool in helping children learn more about the coronavirus, ease their anxieties and change their perspectives about the situation.
“We call this mental health literacy—knowing how to gain positive mental health, understand mental disorders, when and how to access appropriate treatments, reduce stigma around this and learn to achieve our best possible lives despite such challenges.”
Books as vaccines for emotional distress
The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly been one of the biggest sources of emotional distress in recent years. With excruciating periods of isolation and anxiety, many have turned to books to escape the dumpster fire that is our reality.
In fact, despite book stores being closed for much of 2020, UK book sales defied the pandemic to hit an eight-year high.
More recently, a 2022 study found that bibliotherapy is an effective tool in helping children learn more about the coronavirus, ease their anxieties and change their perspectives about the situation.
Professor Crawford said: “Reading literature was a survival tool to deal with the isolation of lockdown in the pandemic. Living for six months confined on my own, with my wife stuck overseas, I struggled with my mental health like so many people around the world.
“Reading literature allowed me to ‘experience’ other lives and events beyond the four walls. We can inhabit a kind of textual hallucination, an imaginary journey or state, appreciating and exploring the consciousness of each character. We can get out of and also gain dialogue with ourselves.”
If you’re struggling to find the motivation to start reading, just remember it’s way cheaper than therapy and comes with a much wider selection of characters to talk to. So go ahead, grab a good book and let the laughter, tears, and occasional existential crisis wash over you. Your brain will thank you!
If you liked this post then read Why you should swap your phone for reading before bed or Is listening the new reading? The pros and cons of audiobooks next.
You can also find more BLOT content on our socials: Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.
Professor Crawford said: “Reading literature was a survival tool to deal with the isolation of lockdown in the pandemic. Living for six months confined on my own, with my wife stuck overseas, I struggled with my mental health like so many people around the world.
“Reading literature allowed me to ‘experience’ other lives and events beyond the four walls. We can inhabit a kind of textual hallucination, an imaginary journey or state, appreciating and exploring the consciousness of each character. We can get out of and also gain dialogue with ourselves.”
If you’re struggling to find the motivation to start reading, just remember it’s way cheaper than therapy and comes with a much wider selection of characters to talk to. So go ahead, grab a good book and let the laughter, tears, and occasional existential crisis wash over you. Your brain will thank you!
If you liked this post then read Why you should swap your phone for reading before bed or Is listening the new reading? The pros and cons of audiobooks next.
You can also find more BLOT content on our socials: Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.
Dr Susan McLaine
Dr. Susan McLaine is a leading practitioner of bibliotherapy—using literature and storytelling to support wellbeing. For more than 12 years, she has researched, delivered, written, and spoken about bibliotherapy in Australia and internationally. She provides bibliotherapy to healthy-minded people who want to live their best lives and to highly vulnerable people who need support to move ahead in their lives.
Sophie Olejnik
sophie.blotmag@gmail.com
Sophie is a trainee journalist at The University of Sheffield who specialises in feature writing. She has a keen passion for books and would love to work in the publishing industry in the future. She’s particularly passionate about how our ever-changing planet is represented in the books we read.
Favourite genres: Thrillers and Contemporary Fiction.