Reading fiction can play a powerful role in mental health, helping us reduce stress, process emotions, and feel less alone. Here are 10 ways fiction has improved my mental health and how it might help you too;

📚 Stress levels go down

Reading fiction has been proven to lower cortisol levels, the pesky stress hormone. There really is nothing like that feeling of when the book you’re reading clicks, and from that moment on you are fully invested in the story. You will disconnect from your real world worries during this time and your brain will thank you for this!

📚 Focus creeps back in

Taking a break from your real-life brain means that when you return to it, you are more focussed and ready to tackle things. Those lower cortisol levels calm the hysteria. You may even be reading a story that reflects parts of your real-life situation, even better for tackling those daunting tasks. You may find useful answers in between those fictitious lines.

📚 Emotional regulation

Stories help us to process our emotions in a safe environment. Characters navigate all sorts of emotions from, grief to joy, anger to fear. Joining characters on their journey can give us a “practice run” which makes our brains more flexible and create memories, should we have to deal with such emotions in our day to day lives.

📚 Healing

Stories can aid our healing process. A character’s journey can give you a safe place to experience what healing might look like for you without force. Sometimes a self-help book talks very scientifically, labelling everything. Our experiences are not so linear, fictitious characters feel things that can’t be named, these feelings can be so powerful to us as we resonate with them. Feelings are more powerful than words.

📚 Introspection

Fiction gives us the opportunity to share a character’s inner thoughts, emotional responses, reasoning. This in turn can make us think more carefully about our own behaviours and how we could better react to situations.

📚 Understanding of self

Seeing parts of ourselves, our stories, reflected in characters can bring clarity and understanding. It can make us look at the bigger picture.  We can reaffirm that we are right in decisions or make us open up and perhaps be less rigid when we look at the entire canvas of our lives.

📚 Trauma healing

Fiction should not be a replacement for therapy, but it should be suggested as part of the therapeutic package. Bibliotherapy is the name of such treatment. A book I found that was helpful to me during my ongoing healing journey, is Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. This booked helped me deal with big issues such as loneliness, neurodiversity, dysfunctional family and narcissistic behaviour. Self-help books alone could never do for me what this book did. I experienced every emotion with Eleanor on her journey of self-discovery, and it changed me for the better. There were so many light bulb moments for me in this book.

📚 Increased creativity

Fiction fuels imagination. Reading has helped me to express myself better. I feel more articulate and able to explain things. You will find your mind more open to possibility, you may even want to try writing yourself!

📚 Knowledge

Fiction teaches us about cultures, countries, religions, time periods. Endless possibilities. After reading The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah I wanted to know everything there was to know about Alaska!  

📚 Empathy

Finally, fiction teaches us empathy. In real-life we only find out a snapshot of a person’s life, even when we think we know someone inside and out. In a story we are given access to information that is more real than simply their social media profile or what they want us to know. We live with them, their thoughts. This can train our brains to be more empathetic in real life to people who we may have been too quick to judge. Also, to situations we may not have given too much thought to before.  

In conclusion, read fiction! I promise you won’t regret it.