Does Reading Make You Happier?

"I suspect that reading fiction is one of the few remaining paths to transcendence, that elusive state in which the distance between the self and the universe shrinks." (Ceridwen Dovey)

Ceridwen Dovey felt that she lacked spiritual resources to deal with death and was referred to a bibliotherapist.  The bibliotherapist prescribed the books The Guide by R. K. Narayna, The Gospel according to Jesus Christ by Jose Saramigo and The Case for God by Karen Armstrong, among others.  A writer was concerned about her fear of rejection and was prescribed Archy and Mehitabel. A woman who was struggling to balance motherhood and her painting was prescribed Notes from an Exhibition.  Today, there is a book for just about every malady.

However, bibliotherapists are not prescribing the self help types of books but rather literary fiction.  "I suspect that reading fiction is one of the few remaining paths to transcendence, that elusive state in which the distance between the self and the universe."  Bibliotherapy boils down to the fact that books provide us with a means of escape. (http://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/can-reading-make-you-happier)

Another reason that bibliotherapy works, according to Dovey is that:  "We were dedicated to fiction as the ultimate cure because it gives readers a transformational experience."  Sigmund Freud used literature during psychoanalysis.  After the First World War, bibliotherapists prescribed Jane Austen novels for veterans suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome.  The book The Novel Cure:  An A-Z of Literacy Remedies by Ella Berthoud and Susan Elderkin recommends fiction for a plethora of disorders (http://thenovelcure.com/about).  The authors are currently working on a children's version, A Spoonful of Stories, due out in 2016.

Given that we have more self help books than ever on the bookstore shelves, why aren't we happier?
According to Dovey, it's not reading self help books per se that helps us deal with our problems.  It's reading fiction.  Dovey explains the science:  a 2011 study mentioned mirror neurons in the brain. These neurons "fire in our brains both when we perform an action ourselves and when we see an action performed by someone else."  Therefore, if we observe a character acting in a certain manner, we have the ability to put ourselves in his or her shoes.  Dovey quoted another study which revealed that people who regularly read literary fiction score higher on social perception and empathy tests
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_neuron).

Bibliotherapists prove once again the value of reading.  Not only does reading open one's mind to knowledge, but also to empathy.  The ability to empathize can improve our relationships and can make us happier people.

https://clairehuston.wordpress.com/2015/06/11/whats-your-bibliotherapy-share-the-books-that-make-you-happy/

Read Two Books and Write Me in the Morning

"Bibliotherapy:  an ancient practice of encouraging reading for therapeutic effect." (Wikipedia)

On the weekend, I attended The Word on the Street, a Toronto Book Festival.  Author Ann Walmsley read from her book The Prison Book Club, based on her own personal experience.  She weaves the tale of the various inmates of a prison whose personalities emerge once she shares literature with them.  During her talk, the author pointed out the redemptive power of literature, of how the reader, in identifying with the characters, develops empathy.  She said that recently, an Iranian judge, faced with the overcrowded local prisons, imposed a book reading sentence for a light crime. (http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2015/09/21/lessons-from-a-prison-book-club.html)

Today, I googled the concept and learned a new word, bibliotherapy, which is the "ancient practice of encouraging reading for therapeutic effect."  In fact, the practice is so ancient it goes back to Egyptian times when the King's royal chamber, which was full of books, had the words "House of Healing of the Soul" written above the door.  

It was not until 1916, however, that the term bibliotherapy was coined when popular essayist Sam McChord Crothers wrote a piece in The Atlantic Monthly called "A Literary Clinic".  As Mr. Crothers explained:  "Then it struck me that is what literature means.  Here we have a stock of thoughts in such a variety of forms that they can be used, not only for food, but for medicine."  Mr. Crothers pointed out that reading a good book could be akin to a "spiritual event"; literature has the power to transform a person. (www.unz.org/Pub/AtlanticMonthly-1916sep-00291) 

Pioneer librarian Sadie Peterson Delaney used bibliotherapy to treat patients successfully at a Veterans Hospital in Tuskegee, Alabama from 1924 to 1953.  It is the "human inclination to identify with others through their experiences in art and literature". (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibliotherapy) 

By the 1980's and 1990's, doctors were employing bibliotherapy to treat a wide variety of disorders such as:  OCD, depression, bulimia, insomnia, emotional disorders, alcoholism, sexual dysfunction and self-harm.  As one writer titled his article about the treatment:  "Read two books and write me in the morning."  It is interesting to note that bibliotherapy is often used hand and hand with writing therapy (see http://alinefromlinda.blogspot.ca/2011/06/freedom-writers.html).

Even my husband, Rob, practises bibliotherapy.  Our basement is full of stacks and stacks of comics. The more stressed that Rob gets, the more he buys comics and the more he reads them.  They are a welcome change from the Political Science journals that he used to pour over when he pursued his PhD.  

So, the next time you are feeling stressed, pay a visit to your local library.  Sink into a winged back chair and dive into a book.  You will reap the rewards.

For more information, read the recent article written in the National Post by Robert Fulford, "The World of Bibliotherapy" at http://news.nationalpost.com/arts/books/robert-fulford-the-world-of-bibliotherapy.

http://www.3ts.ie/need-help/self-help-3/self-help-2/