How books can help you with your mental health.
If you are feeling down or want to lower your anxiety levels. Bibliotherapy could help you.
When in situations that can cause anxiety and uncertainty, reading a good book may give you a welcome escape from reality and boost your mental health and wellbeing. Bibliotherapy or using literature to improve your mental health has been so effective that it can be prescribed to you on the NHS.Â
What is Bibliotherapy?
It is a creative arts therapies that involves storytelling or the reading of specific texts with the purpose of healing. It uses an individual’s relationship to the content of books and poetry and other written words as therapy. Bibliotherapy is often combined with writing therapy. Â
How it helps
Through the use of stories, poetry, plays and self-help materials it can give you a deeper understanding of what you are feeling. It works in three stages; identification, catharsis and insight. Identifying with the main character, experiencing their emotions and struggles, then gaining insight into your own life from their story. The wider you read the better. Reading Classic’s to popular fiction will give you the breath of life experiences that could relate and help with the ones you are trying to process. Bibliotherapy examples include, people suffering from depression have the opportunity to discover new emotions, experiences and rediscover forgotten ones. Whereas reading poetry can be the perfect way to calm the mind, bringing you into the here and now, if you were feeling anxious. It can be used to help anxiety, depression or other mood disorders, people struggling with trauma or addiction or people going through grief, a divorce or any other relationship challenges.
How you can start reading more
In England, you can get a book prescription from your GP which can be used at your local library or you are able to attend a local Reading Well group. The Reacher charity also runs therapeutic reading groups all over the UK, for psychiatric hospitals, prison, care homes, sheltered accommodation and for local people. You could also go is a bibliotherapist, who offers personalised session and prescriptions.  They can help with books to read for specific metal health needs and give a more tailored book list.Â
You can listen to this BBC interview to find out other people’s experiences of bibliotherapy and how it has helped them process anything they have been going through.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/disability-44171404
If you think bibliotherapy will help you with your mental health, there are many websites that can help you find books to read. You can also start by just reading your favourite book or read something familiar to you. If you are looking to find other resources then you can go to: Learning Resources | Free2Learn Resources and Learning Tools for learning tools, health, wellbeing, employability and finances. Â
