University of Kwazulu-Natal

Reading A Book More Than Once Has Mental Health Benefits The Mary Sue

Bonisiwe Shabane
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reading a book more than once has mental health benefits the mary sue

I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess that The Mary Sue readers have read at least one book twice. If not three, four, ten times. So it’s nice to know it’s not just for fun, it actually benefits your health! “The habit of watching films or reading books multiple times encourages people to engage with them emotionally. The first time people read – or watch – through, they are focused on events and stories,” writes the Daily Mail. “The second time through, the repeated experience reignites the emotions caused by the book or film, and allows people to savour those emotions at leisure.”

The information comes via a study conducted through interviews with readers from both the United States and New Zealand. The emotional benefits gained from reading a book for a second time help people become more in touch with themselves they say. “By doing it again, people get more out of it,” said author Cristel Antonia Russell of American University. “Even though people are already familiar with the stories or the places, re-consuming brings new or renewed appreciation of both the object of consumption and their self.” The same effect can be had by... The title of the paper in The Journal of Consumer Research is “The Temporal and Focal Dynamics of Volitional Reconsumption: A Phenomenological Investigation of Repeated Hedonic Experiences.” Posted March 16, 2022 | Reviewed by Ekua Hagan

Despite recent controversies over which books should line the shelves of schools and libraries, there is little debate that literature expands the mind. But can the act of reading also improve our mental health and wellbeing? Researchers are investigating the impact of reading experiences and reporting evidence of promising mental and social health benefits. Whether reading alone or with others, people are finding connection and meaning between the pages, giving their mental health a boost along the way. Now practitioners are exploring new models using the literary arts to support mental health in clinics, classrooms, and communities worldwide. Getting wrapped up in a good book is good for our health.

The experience of being immersed or engaged while reading a story is called narrative absorption and serves as more than an innately pleasurable experience—it can also enhance our sense of wellbeing. Researchers believe that mentally transporting ourselves away from our physical surroundings can provide an escape or opportunity for meaningful contemplation. Reading books may have several health benefits. These include strengthening your brain, increasing your ability to empathize, reducing stress, and building your vocabulary. Reading books benefits both your physical and mental health, and those benefits can last a lifetime. They begin in early childhood and continue throughout your lifetime.

Here’s how reading books can change your brain — and your body — for the better. Reading involves activity in several parts of the brain, and over time, it may change your brain structure. One 2020 study found that increased gray matter in the part of the brain called the left superior temporal cortex was associated with better reading performance in children. Gray matter plays a role in cognitive function. Reading has long been celebrated for its ability to entertain, educate, and inspire, but its impact goes far beyond the pages of a book. Scientific research increasingly supports the idea that reading, especially a diverse selection of books, can have significant benefits for mental health.

From reducing stress and improving mood to enhancing empathy and providing cognitive resilience, reading is a powerful tool for emotional and psychological well-being. One of the most well-documented benefits of reading is its ability to reduce stress. A 2009 study conducted by researchers at the University of Sussex found that reading can reduce stress levels by up to 68%, making it more effective than other common relaxation methods such as listening... Just six minutes of reading was shown to slow down the heart rate and ease muscle tension, which helps to lower stress levels significantly . The reason reading is so effective at reducing stress lies in its ability to distract the mind from worries and anxieties. When you are fully absorbed in a book, your focus shifts away from the stresses of everyday life, allowing your mind to relax and unwind.

This mental escape can be especially beneficial during times of high stress, providing a much-needed break and helping to restore a sense of calm. Reading has also been shown to have a positive effect on mood and can be a valuable tool in managing symptoms of depression. Bibliotherapy, a therapeutic approach that uses literature to support mental health, has been widely studied for its effectiveness. A meta-analysis published in Clinical Psychology Review found that bibliotherapy, particularly when focused on self-help books based on cognitive-behavioral principles, can significantly reduce symptoms of depression, especially when combined with other forms of therapy... Fiction, in particular, can offer emotional comfort by providing a sense of connection to characters and their experiences. This connection can lead to a better understanding of one’s own emotions and challenges, offering comfort and reducing feelings of isolation.

Additionally, engaging with stories of resilience and overcoming adversity can inspire hope and provide a sense of empowerment for those struggling with mental health issues. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. Received 2020 Sep 2; Accepted 2022 Mar 20; Collection date 2022. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Does reading fiction improve mental health and well-being? We present the results of five studies that evaluated the impact of five forms of exposure to fiction.

These included the effects of recalling reading fiction, of being prescribed fiction, of discussing fiction relative to non-fiction, and of discussing literary fiction relative to best-seller fiction. The first three studies directly recruited participants; the final two relied on scraped social media data from Reddit and Twitter. Results show that fiction can have a positive impact on measures of mood and emotion, but that a process of mnemonic or cognitive consolidation is required first: exposure to fiction does not, on its... The claim that exposure to literature can have a positive impact on mental well-being has been visible for some time now. ‘Creative bibliotherapy’, as this view has come to be known, argues that the cognitive effects engendered by poetry, fiction, and drama may be of value in treating mental health conditions [1–6]. In one formulation, ‘attentive immersion in great literature can help relieve, restore, and reinvigorate the troubled mind—and can play a part in relieving stress and anxiety, as well as other troubled states of mind’...

In a world where the need for affordable mental health resources outstrips the ability to supply them, this is an attractive proposition. It is unsurprising, therefore, that numerous popular authors have been enthusiastic in their endorsement of reading literature as a therapeutic intervention [8–14], or that services such as ReLit, The Reading Agency, and The School... Despite recent controversies over which books should line the shelves of schools and libraries, there is little debate that literature expands the mind. But can the act of reading also improve our mental health and wellbeing? Researchers are investigating the impact of reading experiences and reporting evidence of promising mental and social health benefits. Whether reading alone or with others, people are finding connection and meaning between the pages, giving their mental health a boost along the way.

Now practitioners are exploring new models using the literary arts to support mental health in clinics, classrooms, and communities worldwide. Getting wrapped up in a good book is good for our health. The experience of being immersed or engaged while reading a story is called narrative absorption and serves as more than an innately pleasurable experience—it can also enhance our sense of wellbeing. Researchers believe that mentally transporting ourselves away from our physical surroundings can provide an escape or opportunity for meaningful contemplation. Reading not only provides these opportunities, but it also helps us make sense of our worlds. In one neuroimaging study, participants who read more narrative fiction had greater activation of parts of the prefrontal cortex involved in perspective-taking when reading text containing social context.

This greater activation may partially explain the correlation between lifetime reading and the ability to understand how people are thinking. 10 Ramanand Nagar Near Lalghati Square, Bhopal, M.P. - 462023 +91 88174 75079 | drmitalisoniloya@gmail.com Copyright © 2025 Dr. Mitali Soni | Designed & Maintained By Spire Soft LLC

In an age of constant scrolling, fast entertainment, and information overload, the quiet act of reading a book feels almost revolutionary. But beyond its educational value, reading has profound benefits for mental health. It’s more than a pastime—it’s a scientifically backed tool to reduce stress, improve emotional regulation, and strengthen the brain’s capacity to heal. Whether it’s escaping into fiction, learning from memoirs, or gaining tools from self-help guides, reading invites the mind to slow down, process, reflect, and grow.

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