“Reading Paper Books is Important for Mental Health”

“Screen Time Creates Anxiety, Insomnia, Inability to Concentrate and More”

Right now we have more people using smartphones, readers, and computers to read than any other time in history. And we also have more people with mental illness than ever before. Is there a correlation between the two?

Many people take reading a paper book for granted and in this new world of videos and movies… lots of people hardly ever read. But the simple act of reading a paper book has many powerful health benefits which are very important.

Reading a Paper Book Lowers Stress and Creates Tranquility – Simply reading something uplifting can help us relax and allow stress to melt away. Studies show that reading also helps us feel more tranquil, peaceful, and content with life. And studies show that reading helps to lower blood pressure, create a calm feeling. Studies at Sussex University showed that reading a paper book for 6 minutes daily lowered stress by up to 68%… that’s pretty amazing! Just think what reading for 30 minutes or more can do. While reading electronically actually causes eye strain, headaches, anxiety, stress, and tension.

Reading a Paper Book Helps with Mental Illness – Reading something uplifting, tranquil, and peaceful helps us to feel more at ease and also helps with mild mental illness. While the more screen time we have the less we are able to concentrate and focus and we have more agitation… and if we have too much stress eventually this can lead to mental challenges.

Reading a Paper Book Creates Better Concentration and Focus – Studies show those that read real books have a better ability to focus and concentrate compared to those that don’t read. Most of the time we have multiple things going on with texts, phone calls, watching TV, listening to the news and more— this creates havoc in our brain. Just the opposite happens when we relax and sit and read a paper book for 20 minutes or more—-we feel relaxed and are better able to focus and concentrate.

Reading a Paper Book Improves Your Imagination – Compared to watching TV and movies reading improves a person’s imagination because it makes the mind work and creates neural connections. And in this day and age of information having a great imagination is important.

Reading a Paper Book Helps with Depression – Studies in the journal of POLS ONE showed that reading self-help books and having therapy sessions at the same time can ease depression. While we have found that those who surf the internet actually have more sadness and depression.

Reading Paper Books Makes us Live Longer – Research done in the UK showed that those who read paper books throughout their life seemed to live longer. While those who read on screens are more likely to have more anxiety and stress and stress shortens our lifespan.

Reading a Paper Book Helps a Person Sleep Better – Studies at the prestigious Mayo Clinic showed that reading a paper book about something that is uplifting just before going to bed improved their quality of sleep. That is reading a regular paper book, reading on a tablet or computer actually created a decline in sleep quality… so read a paper book and sleep better. In fact, I have a client who was always reading on his cell phone and computer until very late and he could not sleep at all… he was up all night. And when he started reading a paper book on my recommendation and he was able to sleep the whole night through… Amazing!

So Read a Paper Book about Something Spiritual and Relax and Enjoy Life

Many Blessings to Everyone!

Dr. Paul Haider