How Reading Affects My Mental Health: Let’s Talk Bookish

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books and Dani @ Literary Lion where we discuss certain topics based on prompts allocated for each Friday of the week. You basically share your opinions and get into the conversation by visiting each other’s posts. You can find the April schedule here or here.

Today’s Let’s Talk Bookish topic is How reading affects mental health, which was suggested by Kristin @ Lukten Av Trykksverte.

I was really excited about this week’s Let’s Talk Bookish topic since the start of this month since I’m a big fan of discussing mental health. Sure, I’ll be mostly writing about my own experience but I love throwing in some research titbits! So without further ado, let’s get started!

Note: There are references at the end that you can click through to read the articles I went over. I totally recommend reading them because they’re fascinating!

IN WHAT WAYS DOES READING AFFECT YOUR MENTAL HEALTH?

Looking at the psychological benefits of reading in general, there are many aspects we don’t realise that is affected by us reading as much as we do. Did you also know there’s such a thing as “bibliotherapy”? Cool, right? Let me break down why here:

• It strengthens your brain connectivity^{1, 2, 3}. Apparently, reading involves various pathways and circuits in the brain, so when our reading ability matures, so do these connections between bits of your brain.
• Long-term fiction readers develop a better “theory of mind”^{1, 3, 4}, AKA skills that are essential to build, navigate and maintain social relationships. This is directly related to reading increasing our ability to empathise. This actually helps us a lot during times like quarantine because it helps us make connections even if it’s fictional characters.
• It improves our mental flexibility³, especially when we read something that makes us dig deep and think about a subject matter, like poetry!
• It builds our vocabulary¹. I think this is a given since the more exposure you get, the better you become at whatever it is.
• Fiction readers were found to be better at accepting ambiguous thoughts³, meaning more creativity.
• It helps maintain and improve our cognitive functioning^{1, 2, 3, 5, 6}. I’ve heard of this since years back, so I’m really glad I started reading at such an early age!
• It provides stress relief^{1, 2, 3, 4, 5}.
• Apparently, nighttime reading will give us a good night’s rest¹.
• Reading both fiction and non-fiction can alleviate depression symptoms^{1, 2, 3, 4, 5}. Fiction books help us escape our current reality and temporarily lose ourselves in an imaginary world. Whereas non-fiction books can educate us on strategies or coping methods.
• It can give us a longer life^{1, 6} (to read more books, of course!). Reading books apparently correlated to a longer life span compared to reading other forms of media.

DOES IT AFFECT YOUR MENTAL HEALTH POSITIVELY OR NEGATIVELY AT CERTAIN TIMES, AND WHY?

Let’s get more personal now! Making the above list helped me understand my own reading a lot better honestly.

Reading books mostly affects me positively. Since the beginning, I have always found solace in my fiction reads, and it came in pretty handy when I was home for the past year or so. Though I had a limited number of people to interact with, books gave me an outlet to not just make connections with the characters, but also as a stress relief and a creative outlet (AKA blogging and bookstagram!).

But I do notice that reading can have a negative effect on me at times, like if I request ARCs and I don’t manage to finish them off. It makes me feel a huge amount of guilt. Getting out reviews on time and reading a book purely for review purposes can stress me out as well (but still way better than med school stress LOL!).

HOW DO YOU FIND A BALANCE TO KEEP UP WITH READING WHILE BEING MINDFUL OF YOUR MENTAL HEALTH?

I’ll be honest and admit I was a mess last year with my reading and mental health. I was new to ARCs and I requested a whole bunch. Then I couldn’t finish them on time and I had no plan of what in the world I was doing.

Recently, I got a lot better at finding that middle ground. First, my TBRs are mostly mood TBRs. Rather than force myself to read a deep book when I’m mentally exhausted, I gave myself space to be spontaneous and more mood-congruent!

I also got a lot more organised! Rather than blindly request ARCs, I got out pen and paper (and Google spreadsheets). I planned out pretty much each month, and held myself accountable and on time with weekly check-ins. This pretty much eliminated all that ARC stress and got me invested in them in a much healthier manner!

DO TRIGGERS, BOOKISH CONTROVERSIES, AND THINGS LIKE THAT AFFECT YOUR HEALTH A LOT MORE THAN YOU LET ON?

First of all, I try not to get author controversies to cloud my view on their writings, so I only get upset if the writing itself depicts an outwardly rude or discriminating outlook on something. It frustrates me when these things happen, but I get lots of comfort connecting with people who think similarly and discussing it.

I don’t really get affected by content unless it’s something sadistically cruel or some sort of animal abuse or anything of the like. Hell, if it’s a happy story about an animal and ends with its death of old age, I will still jump ship straight away! That affects me very negatively, so I read a few reviews before I get started to steer clear of those topics.

But then, of course, I get overly invested in books with tragic endings and mope about for days, but that’s pretty much all of us, right? Right???

I had loads of fun writing this post and I’m so curious about what everyone else contributed to this week’s Let’s Talk Bookish! Feel free to start a conversation below and let’s have some fun!

My references:

1. Stanborough RJ, Moawad H. Benefits of Reading Books: How It Can Positively Affect Your Life. Healthline.
2. 5 Ways Reading Improves Your Mental Health. Renewal Lodge.
3. 5 benefits of reading as little as 20 pages per day. The South African College of Applied Psychology.
4. Shukla A. The Effect of Reading Fiction on The Brain: Do Books Increase Empathy? Cognition Today.
5. Davis J. Reading books can positively impact your mental health. Harper’s Bazaar.
6. Bavishi A, Slade M, Levy B. The Survival Advantage of Reading Books. Gerontological Society of America. PubMed Central.

My previous Let’s Talk Bookish posts:

• April 16: What Makes Me Pick Up A Book
• April 2: Putting Off Books You Actually Want To Read
• March 12: Why I Don’t Run a BookTube