Read books, live longer

Long ago, some learned man had said that with every book one buys, one adds a millimetre to one mental health. This statement continues to remain today, particularly when the mental health of a major section of people have been adversely affected – in varying degrees – by the unprecedented situation triggered off by Covid-19, and more particularly to the lockdown. The pandemic and lockdown have brought about a severe sense of fear and anxiety around the globe. This phenomenon has led to short-term as well as long-term psychosocial and mental health implications among children, adolescents, adults and the elderly. The quality and magnitude of impact on people of different age-groups is determined by many vulnerability factors like age, educational status, pre-existing mental health condition, family and home environment, being economically underprivileged or being quarantined due to infection or fear of infection, and so on. Psychologists have always suggested developing a reading habit as a therapy for improving mental health. Reading books can have many profoundly positive effects on one's life. Reading a book has much more positive impact in comparison to watching television. The 33rd Guwahati Book Fair, held in the last fortnight, has proved this to be true. While footfall in the book fair has been unprecedented, what was noticed is that a sizable section of the people who flocked to the event were first-timers who had earlier never considered worthwhile stepping into the world of books. In fact, booksellers have stated that the crowd in the book fair was much different from what used to be in the past. And, with social media playing a very positive role in promoting the habit of reading since the lockdown had started in March last year, books belonging to a wide range and various genres were seen being picked up by the people. One probably will not be wrong in stating that the lockdown and the post-lockdown book fair have together created a new habit of reading among the people. Psychologists have said that mental health has been strongly associated with relationship quality and human connection. People who feel isolated, forlorn, or cut off from the rest of the world are more likely to suffer from various mental health issues including depression and substance use disorders. While the suggested remedy for this disconnected state is usually to try new things and meet new people in the process, there may be a less anxiety-prone solution to be found in reading. Starting a reading habit can prove to be a great stepping stone to the development of healthy relationships by allowing oneself to awaken one's emotions and experience empathy. Research has suggested that developing a relationship with fictional characters allows a person to better understand the human experience and expand upon the ways in which he or she relates to people in real life. Books, it is said, are masters who instruct people without rods or ferrules, without words of anger, without bread or money. If one approaches them, they are not asleep. If one seeks them, they do not hide. If one blunders, they do not scold. If one is ignorant, they do not laugh. Books are in fact like standing counsellors and preachers, always at hand, and always disinterested. Having this advantage over oral instructors, books are always ready to repeat their lesson as often as one pleases. In 2009, a group of researchers in the US measured the effects of yoga, humour and reading on the stress levels of high college and university students. The study found that 30 minutes of reading lowered blood pressure, heart rate, and feelings of psychological distress just as effectively as yoga and humor did. Doctors often suggest reading as part of a regular sleep routine. Reading a print book rather is always much better than reading on a screen, since the light emitted by the electronic device could keep a person awake and lead to other unwanted health outcomes. Another study this one conducted in the UK, had found that those who who read books survive around two years longer than those who either didn't read or who read magazines and other forms of media. The study also concluded that people who read more than three and a half hours every week were 23 per cent likely to live longer than those who didn't read at all. Research in fact has shown that regular reading brings several benefits. They include improving brain connectivity, increasing vocabulary and comprehension, empowering a person to empathize with other people, aiding in sleep readiness, reducing stress, lowering blood pressure and heart rate, fighting depression symptoms, preventing cognitive decline as one ages, and contributing to a longer life. But then, as Francis Bacon had said: Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.