During spring, people often begin to feel lonelier and struggle to maintain a connection with their friends and family.
One of the most important things you can do is take care of your mental health, and one of the easiest ways to do it is to pick up a book and dive between its pages. Reading is one of the greatest ways to entertain yourself and improve mental health. And there are so many books available you’ll definitely find one you enjoy and that keeps you interested. Reading a fantasy book with a charming setting, witty characters, and engaging prose that pulls you into the plot can bring you indescribable comfort, especially if you feel the symptoms of seasonal depression creeping in.
Mental health problems have been around since forever. But thankfully, we now live in a world that understands the importance of openly speaking about these illnesses and treating them accordingly. Reading provides a boost in mood and has several benefits for mental health. And it’s an accessible form of alternative therapy as it’s relatively inexpensive with so many eBooks available online free or for small fee charges.
Benefits of reading for mental health
Reduced stress
You could use a little stress reduction with your overwhelming schedule, and an effective way to do it is by reading books. Diving between its pages takes you out of this time and world and helps your mind escape in a different place. Studies show that reading reduces stress and is more effective than listening to music or drinking calming tea. Reading for as little as 10 minutes can alleviate stress.
Promotes a restful sleep
Sleeping peacefully at night is essential for maintaining your mental and physical health because it recharges your body and helps it get ready for the next day. But when dealing with mental health issues, it’s far from easy to sleep because your mind races, and you barely get to sleep a couple of hours before your alarm goes off. If you’ve also been the victim of a personal injury accident or medical malpractice and dealing with its effects, you may find it even more challenging to fall asleep. Besides reading a book to ease your mind, you can also ask the specialists from Medical Negligence Law to assist you in claiming compensation because it can bring you a sense of peace.
Prevents memory loss and works your brain
Engaging in cognitive activities like reading can slow down memory loss. A study concluded that mental decline rates drop by 32% when you read, write, or do other cognitive activities. Reading can also help if you have dementia or Alzheimer’s because it keeps your brain active. Research shows that individuals who read regularly are 2.5 times less likely to experience Alzheimer’s.
Best books to read in 2022 to boost their mental health
Own Your Anxiety: 99 Simple Ways to Channel Your Secret Edge
Julian Brass is an anxiety coach who helps people deal with anxiety and empowers them to take charge of their life. This book offers readers the necessary tools to focus on the aspects of their life they can control, helps them find their motivation, and guides them toward taking positive action. Brass promotes the idea that people should no longer see anxiety as a disorder they should be ashamed of but as something they can handle. It’s an intimate part of who they are, which can be shaped, and they shouldn’t try to hide it from the world.
Be Calm: Proven Techniques to Stop Anxiety Now
Jill Weber, a clinical psychologist specialised in treating anxiety, wrote Be Calm to provide people with the needed knowledge to manage their mental health. The book is split into three sections, behaviours, feelings, and thoughts because Weber finds it crucial to handle each separately for the best results.
Each section explains how individual symptoms function and provides the explanations behind it and methods to manage and control it. By reading this book and using the techniques, Jill Weber promotes, people can find inner calm.
Your Happiness Toolkit: 16 Strategies for Overcoming Depression, and Building a Joyful, Fulfilling Life
Carrie Maxwell Wrigley, the book’s author, has built herself a career in counselling. With over 30-year experience, she can help people manage their mental health. The Happiness Toolkit provides applicable steps for individuals struggling with mental health issues and helps them understand what depression is and how they can fight its symptoms.
The book includes a self-assessment model to enable the readers to identify what their depression is and provides 16 self-help solutions that allow them to reach happiness. Both the patients who have a mental health problem and their loved ones can use this Toolkit to determine what steps they must follow.
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
Lori Gottlieb found herself in both positions, that of a therapist and patient. She experienced an incident that left her confused and shaken, and she needed therapy to understand what happened to her and identify the path to regain her wellbeing. Even if she is a doctor and therapist, she still needs specialised help to overcome her struggle. She used her education and personal experience to write this book to help other people who find themselves in her situation.
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone unveils her self-discovery story and focuses on the truths and lies people tell themselves when dealing with emotional trauma. The book makes the readers feel heard and encourages them to open up and reach out to a specialist who can guide their steps toward recovery.
Julia Samuel, an experienced psychotherapist, used her hours of conversations with mental health patients to put together information to help those who deal with hardship. She relies on medical research to analyse her patients’ stories and explain how mental health issues affect each individual differently. She highlights that mental health should always be a priority for people, and they could search for coping mechanisms to improve their state.
This Too Shall Pass
Final words
No matter if you choose to read mental health books or another genre, reading can help you improve your mental health.
