Feeling Depressed or Anxious? Reading Fiction Can Help Reduce Symptoms.

Snuggling under some cozy, warm blankets with a deliciously fun work of fiction might seem, on the surface, to be simply a pleasurable way to pass the time. You may even feel a bit guilty even thinking about cracking open a novel when you’re so busy with so much to do. Who has time for pretend stories with work, chores, and family obligations?

But did you know that taking time to indulge in reading works of fiction could actually help your mental wellness and even your physical health? And that reading fiction could, in fact, be a critical component in healing from a multitude of challenges including anxiety, depression, and disordered eating?

Many people think that the self-help genre is the only category which could potentially be effectual in terms of enhancing mental well-being. This just isn’t true! In reality, there are several reasons you should consider stepping out of the self-improvement aisle.

Books Are Actually Often Used As Part Of Therapy

Using books as a component of therapy is actually far from a new idea. With the guidance of your therapist, this adjunct piece of a comprehensive treatment plan entails using books to address therapeutic needs and is called bibliotherapy. Research does, in fact, validate its efficacy.

Reading books while participating in talk therapy is a not uncommon part of care for a variety of issues such as anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, relationship stressors, existential concerns (like meaninglessness and death) and disordered eating. And bibliotherapy goes far beyond the help-yourself-improve genre, including books from nearly any category imaginable. Philosophy, memoirs, or fiction novels, for example, can all be therapeutic.

Fiction, in particular, is especially conducive to good emotional well-being and physical health. Far too often, it gets overlooked. But research shows us this category brings with it a special blend of proven benefits.

Following are 6 Ways Reading Fiction Can Benefit Your Mental & Physical Health

Reading Reduces Stress

In a life overflowing with near constant distractions, it can seem near impossible to find space for calm. And if you’re experience stress, or your mood isn’t so great, you might think relaxation methods such as listening to soothing music would be the ideal. But there’s something that actually works better and faster. Reading!

Research shows us that reading is a fantastic way to get away from it all. Reading confers a sort of escapist, meditative effect. While you might frequently have multiple stressors coming at you, reading allows you to push them all away as you focus in on one singular thing – a story.

Notably, a 2009 study completed at the University of Sussex, a leading research university in Brighton, UK, revealed that reading for as little as six minutes can reduce stress by up to 68%. Participants in this study evidenced reduction in stress via a slowed heart and release of muscle tension. Interestingly, reading was shown to reduce stress 100% more as compared to drinking a cup of tea, and 300% more than going for a walk. It’s perhaps not so surprising when you consider that fiction takes you away from your stresses for a short bit by presenting you the opportunity to step into another world (perhaps one far, far away!)

Many people think that the self-help genre is the only category which could potentially be effectual in terms of enhancing mental well-being. This just isn’t true!

Cognitive neuropsychologist Dr. David Lewis, the study author, shared with The Telegraph, “it really doesn’t matter what book you read; by losing yourself in a thoroughly engrossing book, you can escape from the worries and stresses of the everyday world and spend a while exploring the domain of the author’s imagination . . . This is more than merely a distraction but an active engaging of the imagination as the words on the printed page stimulate your creativity and cause you to enter what is essentially an altered state of consciousness.”

Reading Can Empower You

If you select a fiction novel wherein the main character has to face trials and tribulations, you yourself could feel more emboldened to tackle a new challenge. Researchers from the University of Ohio studied this tendency and they did, in fact, discover that we can be expected to alter our behaviors and thoughts to parallel those of the character we may be reading about.

Next time you have an obstacle to overcome, you might want to try reading a story where the character successfully achieves their goals. A book could help inspire you.

Reading Can Increase Your Empathy

Research published in Science, a journals of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), tells us that fiction can be advantageous to us in that it increases our ability to understand emotional cues and to better comprehend the motives of other people. Interestingly, the 2013 study looked at readers of literary fiction (as opposed to popular fiction or literary nonfiction) and researchers found they exhibited improved results on tests measuring social perception and empathy. These are components of what is known as the “theory of mind” - the capacity to sense what another person could be be thinking or feeling.

Developing a connection with a character from a book is not unlike forming a connection with someone you might meet in person. Reading a book is akin to accepting an invitation into another human mind. And, too, you might even dive deeper into the psyche of the books character, depending on the novel, than you might otherwise do with anyone you know personally. You may get a glimpse of the character’s wants and longings, their hopes and desires, and their hidden agendas. This can assist you greatly with understanding someone else’s feelings and behaviors. In a book we can explore new ideas and complex emotions.

Emeritus professor of cognitive psychology at the University of Toronto, Keith Oatley, shared that “fiction is a particularly useful simulation because negotiating the social world effectively is extremely tricky, requiring us to weigh up myriad interacting instances of cause and effect. Just as computer simulations can help us get to grips with complex problems such as flying a plane or forecasting the weather, so novels, stories and dramas can help us understand the complexities of social life.”

Fiction books frequently are heavily centered around relationships. This allow us a chance to learn the inner workings of the characters. The result? We broaden our worldview, and we can gain insight into the perspectives of someone who might be, at times, quite a bit different from ourselves. This has tremendous value in that it can enhance the relationships in our own everyday lives. Fiction gives us a chance to see into the heart and motives of another person. Viewed from that perspective, a narrative work can facilitate powerful emotional change within us.

Reading confers a sort of escapist, meditative effect. While you might frequently have multiple stressors coming at you, reading allows you to push them all away as you focus in on one singular thing – a story.

Fiction can essentially uplift us and teach us how to get along better with others.

If you have any doubts regarding the potential mental and emotional payoff of fiction, if you think a pretend story could not possibly confer such benefits because it is, after all, just words on a page, then consider the work of researchers from Washington University in St. Louis. They scanned the brains of fiction readers and, as detailed in Fast Company, they “discovered that their test subjects created intense, graphic mental simulations of the sights, sounds, movements, and tastes they encountered in the narrative. In essence, their brains reacted as if they were actually living the events they were reading about.”

Reading Helps You Sleep Better

Individuals with anxiety and/or depression often report difficulty sleeping. Creating a sleep routine which includes reading a stress lowering novel could be a good way to induce calm. A pleasurable piece of fiction could be just the thing to help you doze off.

Keep in mind that reading on a device may actually negatively impact your slumber. This means that if you’re looking to rest a bit easier, you’ll maybe want to grab a hard copy of a novel and steer clear of any screens. Also, be mindful of which piece of fiction you bring to bed as anything too emotionally intense could keep you awake. So a horror novel or a captivating thriller might be better saved for an afternoon by the pool.

Reading Can Strengthen Your Brain

We know going to the gym can help us strengthen our body. Well, you might want to start frequenting the library, too, as reading has been shown to keep your brain agile, particularly as you age.

One study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Neurology, looked at approximately 294 participants who lived until an average age of 89. For those individuals who remained intellectually engaged (including but not limited to reading) there was a 32% lower rate of mental decline. And those who didn’t stay on their mental game? They declined 48% quicker.

Yet another study, this one looking at 942 individuals, found that, for avid readers (meaning they read for at least one hour per day), the risk of dementia was shown to be impressively reduced. Researchers noted a marked difference between those who read for sixty minutes or more versus those who read for only 30 minutes. Notably, reading a magazine or newspaper did not confer the same effect. It had to be a book.

When we consider the mental work involved when we devour a novel (for example, keeping track of the plot and characters, along with the imagination involved to create visuals in our mind for everything) it isn’t hard to see how reading could strengthen our brain.

Reading Can Reduce Symptoms of Depression

As noted, reading is a means by which you can escape the stressors of your daily life. A piece of fiction thus presents an opportunity to be distracted, if only briefly, by the imagined experiences of the characters and plot. It’s certainly true that if your diagnosis has left you feeling isolated a book cannot ever soothe you with a warm hug or dry your tears. But what a book can provide you with is a moment to forge a deep human connection with the characters you read about.

Fiction gives us a chance to see into the heart and motives of another person. Viewed from that perspective, a narrative work can facilitate powerful emotional change within us.

Writing in The New Yorker, fiction novelist Ceridwen Dovey remarks on the potential for books to lift our mood, remarking that “reading fiction . . . is a way of treating ourselves better. Reading has been shown to put our brains into a pleasurable trance-like state, similar to meditation, and it brings the same health benefits of deep relaxation and inner calm. Regular readers sleep better, have lower stress levels, higher self-esteem, and lower rates of depression than non-readers.”

Reading Is Fun and It Really Could Make You Feel Better

A novel can be a blessing and a gift when the world weighs heavily on us.

If you’re struggling, consider reading a book.