How Reading Book Can Improve Your Mental Health

Reading a good book like consuming a fine wine: never gets old and gets even better with age. It is one of the most enjoyable ways to spend your free time, but did you know that it is also extremely beneficial to your mental health?

In our days when we all live under the pressure of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is so important to find different ways to calm yourself down. Reading a good book is one of the most effective ways to help yourself while you are under stress, and let us tell you why.

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Reduce your stress after a long day

It is one of the most famous benefits of reading books. Numerous research showed that even twenty minutes of reading when you fully concentrate on the text reduces your stress levels a lot. It gives your brain a needed distraction from everyday troubles and helps to reduce levels of stress hormones.

In addition, if you are reading a sad book (but choose one with a happy end, please), it can help you cry out your stress and release even more stress-related hormones. And vice versa, if you read a funny book, a healthy dose of laughter will increase serotonin levels and will make you feel a lot better. And also, people say that laughter prolongs the human’s lifespan, so who knows!

Reading keeps your brain on the top of its game

t is not a secret that reading improves your brain’s health by simple training of neurons and strengthening its connections. This “mental workout” has another positive side effect of improving overall mental health and helping with any present stresses.

It is just as simple as it is: if your brain becomes stronger and healthier, your mental health inevitably improves. It is also connected to the elder’s dementias, so it also helps prevent cognitive decline and keep you healthy with a strong brain for many more years.

Help with depression and anxiety

Depression is a serious clinical illness that needs proper treatment with a qualified specialist. As an addition to the prescribed treatment, you can use reading as your extra helping hand. It is a way to escape from your troubled mental situation and forget about anxiety even for a little bit. It will help with managing the symptoms of these illnesses and support yourself during the process of recovery. For example, this method is widely used in the UK, and specialists report its high effectiveness.

Heart rate and blood pressure

The most interesting benefit that reading gives to you is lowering of blood pressure. When you are under stress or have anxiety-related elevated heart rate, reading can help you to go back to the norm relatively quickly.

It is also very helpful at night when you are ready to go to bed and need something to prepare you for a good night’s sleep. Grab a book and read for thirty minutes, and you will see how much calmer and peaceful you now feel. It will bring you a gift of a long night of sleep and a nice, rested brain in the morning.

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