Reading is Good for Your Mental Health: Here’s Why
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, which got me to thinking about my reading habits, and about whether or not reading is good for your mental health. I’ve been a dedicated reader since I was about nine years old (when I discovered that reading on my own was as fun as being read to – and faster!). Since then, I’ve been reading obsessively. When people ask me what my hobbies are, I don’t know what to say. I read. That’s my thing. I read, and I write about reading (I also write fiction, but that’s a whole other thing).
What does this have to do with mental health? Well, I’m an anxious and clinically depressed person. I’m medicated and everything. But even if I weren’t, I know one thing: reading has benefited, and continues to benefit, my mental health. Plus, it’s not just me who experiences this: it’s science.
De-Stressing
Taking a break to read can help with your stress levels, according to a University of Sussex study. The researchers increased the subjects’ heart rate and stress levels, and then gave them a variety of relaxing tasks. Guess what? Reading worked best to de-stress them. Personally, I’m not surprised in the lease. Plus, it only took six minutes (six!) for reading as a relaxant to kick in. Which means that if you’re going through something at work or school, you can take a short break – say, ten minutes – and read. Try it!
Sleep Better
According to the Mayo Clinic (as well as my own habits and those of many readers I know), reading before bed can help you sleep better. Avoid e-readers before bed, because screens have an effect on your brain. Keep your paper books for pre-bed reading, and stick to a sleep schedule. Better sleep is essential. “Poor sleep and depression are very closely linked,” according to the Sleep Health Foundation, and “treating one condition will often improve the other.” If you can’t fall asleep, try reading for a while, and see if that helps. Make it part of your routine! Short stories are great for bedtime reading.
Socializing & Empathy
While many of us may have always assumed that reading helped our empathetic abilities, there’s now science to back this up as well. Several studies (one from the University of Buffalo, another from the New School of Social Research, for example) used different metrics and groups, but each showed that reading increases empathy. But for those of us who also suffer from social anxiety, there’s evidence that empathy and socializing in a healthy way go hand in hand. This incredible article in The New Yorker, for example, which discusses bibliotherapy, posits that books “give us a chance to rehearse for interactions with others in the world, without doing any lasting damage.” Reading is a kind of practice for socialization, which helps us be more comfortable later in real social situations.
and in the long-term…
Even if you’re not worried about your current mental health, there’s evidence that shows the reading can help prevent various forms of dementia and memory loss and keeps your brain strong over time.
If you needed another reason to feel good about reading, here it is. And if, by any chance, you’ve been looking to read more, maybe these reasons will help you remember to really do it. Take the time to read, for your mental health, for your brain power, for your relationships, but mostly, for yourself. Read on, friends. Read on.
