Tuesday, April 8, 2025

Tuesday, April 8, 2025

Whether reading for pleasure or personal growth, what you enjoy depends on your interests and experiences. What you choose to read is as unique as what you enjoy eating or wearing. When you select a book to read, what are you seeking? Pleasure, growth, transformation?

It is not what you choose to read but what happens to you when you are absorbed in reading – that pleasurable feeling of forgetting who and where you are, temporarily experiencing life through someone else’s perspective! I read to be entertained, to learn, to adventure into unknown worlds where my heart is slashed, where my guts are punched, or a brick falls on my head. With each book I read, my emotional and intellectual sensibilities emerge and deepen.

In 2003, a group of doctors in Wales prescribed reading as a cure for patients with mild to moderate depression. This brainchild of clinical psychologist Professor Neil Frude worked so well that he named it “Book Prescription Program.” His patients found themselves with a library card instead of a drug prescription.

In addition to the “Book Prescription Program,” a published study in the UK found that reading self-help books in conjunction with face-to-face support sessions helped more than 42 percent of patients find relief from depression and anxiety without the use of anti-depressants. Another study found reading reduces stress by 68 percent, more than listening to music or going for a walk. And it doesn’t require hours to reap the benefits. Just 20-30 minutes of reading lowers stress levels.

Your reading speed does not matter, fast or painfully slow. All that matters is that you love what you read. The more you read, the happier you will feel.