The Healing Power of Literature: Books as Therapy
One of the best ways to develop the intellect is to read. Books have taught, entertained, and protected us over history. Sometimes they gave us hope, encouragement, and safety. Many think literature saved them.
Book magic is great. Words and magic were once one, according to Freud. Perhaps this is why we sometimes hide in books. Healing with books is called “bibliotherapy.”
Reading really improves emotional wellbeing. We often don't realise the many benefits of books. People with mild to moderate mental and physical illnesses have seen their benefits. Continue exploring this location.
First, we must distinguish between the two primary types of bibliotherapy, which support this reading's goal.
Clinical: patients should modify their attitudes or behaviours. This therapy is usually done in a hospital. It targets mood, ADHD, and eating disorders. Books having a specific theme help focus on the patient's reality.
Evolutionary or personal development: personal growth. Reading is done alone or in groups to prevent or rectify. Because therapy can be done in libraries or educational centres, the environment is more varied than in a clinic.
This literature proposes personal help approaches like assertiveness training, meditation, public speaking, and more.
“He is very cultured.” We often use this phrase to describe persons with great intelligence from reading. Reading has many therapeutic effects in addition to information.
Answers are fun, instructive, and enriching with bibliotherapy. It urges transformation and helps us find solutions where we had questions.
Who hasn't been transported to another world by a book? We ignore our issues to focus on a fantasy story.
By escaping reality for a few minutes, we can disconnect from our concerns and worries, improving our mood. All unconsciously.
How often have we rehashed a problem? Sometimes a grain of sand becomes a mountain and blocks our view. Books can work like little hurricanes to scatter the sand from this pile and let us breathe. Remember that self-care is good in moderation.
Some people can de-dramatize their condition via bibliotherapy. Fiction makes us feel less alone and share thoughts and issues with characters. It broadens our perspective, calms us, and helps us reflect.
Reading encourages emotional growth. We can draw inspiration and energy from this to keep going. Doctor Raymond Mar says reading activates the brain like real experience.
In The New Yorker, bibliotherapy is shown to be curative: "fiction is one of those places reserved for transcendence; it is that state during which the distance between oneself and the universe is reduced." "Reading makes me feel unique and lose awareness of myself," stated the author.
Neuroscientists at Emory University (Atlanta) also found promising results. Conclusion: Reading reduces stress and improves psychosocial development.
Putting oneself in others' shoes and understanding their positive and negative feelings is social. Developing it doesn't require being around others. Bibliotherapy is wonderful since it simulates reality with sentences. Thinking reading is for lonely individuals is a myth.