Reading vs. Sitting: Your health and happiness
Two scientific studies in 2016 found that reading books not only improves IQ, but also benefits emotional health, and can add years to a person’s lifetime. In other words, reading can make you smarter, happier, and longer-lived to read more and more books!
The November 2016 issue of “Harvard Women’s Health Watch” reports on the study at Yale University School of Public Health, that found “people who read books regularly had a 20% lower risk of dying over the next 12 years compared with people who weren’t readers or who read periodicals.” The complete report of findings was published in the September 2016 issue of “Social Science and Medicine.”
A study showing that reading books promotes mental health and empathy has been ongoing at the New School for Social Research. “Time” magazine, Nov. 7, 2016, reports on the latest research. In September, researchers found a link between increased empathy in participants who had a “lifelong relationship with literature.” Although Maria Eugenia Panero of Boston College, one of the lead authors of the report, states that it is “hard to know whether literary fiction increases theory of mind (the ability to know what another person is thinking or feeling) or if people (with) higher theory of mind are just drawn to literary fiction.”
In the same “Time” article, Ella Berthoud, a bibliotherapist at the School of Life, says, “Inhabiting a novel can be transformative in a way that using a self-help book isn’t.” The article includes titles of novels recommended for “therapeutic reading.”
So, if you’re now thinking of flopping down into your easy chair to enjoy a novel and make yourself healthier and happier—wait a second! Front page headline in the previously mentioned issue of “Harvard Women’s Health Watch” warns: “Why sitting may be hazardous to your health.”
What is a dedicated reader to do?! Your comments? Suggestions?
The November 2016 issue of “Harvard Women’s Health Watch” reports on the study at Yale University School of Public Health, that found “people who read books regularly had a 20% lower risk of dying over the next 12 years compared with people who weren’t readers or who read periodicals.” The complete report of findings was published in the September 2016 issue of “Social Science and Medicine.”
A study showing that reading books promotes mental health and empathy has been ongoing at the New School for Social Research. “Time” magazine, Nov. 7, 2016, reports on the latest research. In September, researchers found a link between increased empathy in participants who had a “lifelong relationship with literature.” Although Maria Eugenia Panero of Boston College, one of the lead authors of the report, states that it is “hard to know whether literary fiction increases theory of mind (the ability to know what another person is thinking or feeling) or if people (with) higher theory of mind are just drawn to literary fiction.”
In the same “Time” article, Ella Berthoud, a bibliotherapist at the School of Life, says, “Inhabiting a novel can be transformative in a way that using a self-help book isn’t.” The article includes titles of novels recommended for “therapeutic reading.”
So, if you’re now thinking of flopping down into your easy chair to enjoy a novel and make yourself healthier and happier—wait a second! Front page headline in the previously mentioned issue of “Harvard Women’s Health Watch” warns: “Why sitting may be hazardous to your health.”
What is a dedicated reader to do?! Your comments? Suggestions?
No comments have been added yet.
