What would it feel like to have freedom from frustration and enjoy psychological wellness? Here’s a finding from neuropsychological research that may come as a surprise to you. In a 2009 research study by neuropsychologist, Dr David Lewis had found that reading for just six minutes can reduce stress levels by up to 68%. Participants in the study only needed to read silently for six minutes to ease tension in the muscles and slow down their heart rate.
Reading is often said to be beneficial for one’s mental health. In another social science research led by Shelby Levine at Mcgill University, she examined whether recreational reading is beneficial for mental health and what motivates recreational reading. Recreational reading, also referred to as volitional reading, or leisure reading is the voluntary choice to read preferred books during one’s free-time.
231 university students participated in Levine’s yearlong longitudinal research study which involved online surveys on their recreational reading, motivation, psychological distress and need frustration (I.e the non-satisfaction of one’s need).
Prior to taking part in the study, each participant completed surveys about their recreational reading goals, motivation, and psychological distress. At the final time-point a year later, participants completed surveys again on the number of books they read recreationally, psychological distress, and need frustration.
The research found that over the year long study:
# Recreational reading was related to decreased anxiety and depressive symptoms, associated with reduced psychological distress.
# Recreational reading is pursued by choice and may help to buffer against any negative feelings of external control.
# Reading may also buffer against need frustration and this may partially explain why recreational reading reduces psychological distress.
# For every additional book that was read recreationally, research participants’ psychological distress score decreased. (The highest number of books read by research participants in a year was 23).
The study also observed that participants on average set a goal to read about four books a year, and read about four books a year. This could be a convincing reason for us to soon pick up our favorite books left waiting to be rediscovered again. If you may like to set a personal goal to read one book a month and gradually build up the number of books to read, that is good way to start. The research had also predicted that if a book was read for leisure each month, the benefits would add up over the year and that results in a larger or more powerful effect on their health.
This generally holds across self-care activities. Each practice of self-care such as reading or meditation may have a small influence on one’s mental health. When these activities are enjoyed regularly, they can largely impact one’s mental health. Overall, Recreational reading is a simple and cost-effective tool which could be used to help improve wellness.
So now that you know this stunning wellness hack, fill me in when you get the chance in the comments link below on how your reading goes. You can also explore the online resources below on websites to know how to expand your reading repertoire.
If you like to stick around for a bit, explore other Wellness Chums blog post for shortcuts to improved wellness including this one on “3 for 30 – A Strategy to Develop Attitudes of Gratitude for Improved Well-being".
Have a phenomenal week!
Resources for Books Review and Recommendations
1. Goodreads
Goodreads lets you set a goal on the number of books that you would like to read this year and offers different genres and recommendations. The website provides links to purchase options of recommended books or your choice of book for reading. Although not a free online book website, Goodread offers quite a vast genre of book categories and reviews by other readers. So this could be good place to start if you are open to exploring new genres or titles.
Gutenberg is a volunteer-run effort to digitize and preserve books. Most of the titles available on the platform are in the public domain, meaning that they are no longer subject to copyright and can be freely distributed.
3. Smashwords
The Smashwords store provides an opportunity to discover new voices in all categories and genres of the written word. After registration, the site offers useful tools for search, discovery and personal library management. Most of the books are affordably priced and multi-format. Over 70,000 of its books are priced at free.
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