The saying, reading maketh a full man, is one that has significantly impacted my life and cemented my love for reading. Reading is a basic foundation skill that prepares one for all aspects of life.

Outside of reading for academic purposes, reading is an activity which is carried out for pleasure and relaxation. Benefits of reading include increasing knowledge, improving one’s brain, memory, focus vocabulary, and writing skills, to name a few.

In addition to making a physically full man, reading has also been shown to benefit emotional health and wellbeing. Bibliotherapy, the use of books and literature to help mental health conditions, is emerging as versatile and cost-effective treatment to improve mental wellbeing. It is used in tandem with other stablished treatment techniques such as Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT). Bibliotherapy comes from two Greek words: biblio (book) and therapies, (intervention or healing mechanism). Reading is therefore therapy. I think that’s great news!

Click here to learn more about the benefits of bibliotherapy.

Happy reading on this Wellness Wednesday!