Starting back at school, college, or work in a new academic year is stressful at the best of times — and this year things are more stressful than usual. Self-care should be high up on everyone’s agendas so that we can all stay as happy and as healthy as possible.
Did you know that reading can help with your mental and emotional well-being? Of course, all librarians and bookworms would be able to tell you this, but now science agrees!
A study carried out on a group of students revealed that reading for just thirty minutes a day reduced psychological stress levels. This in turn lowered known symptoms of stress such as elevated heart rate and high blood pressure. If that wasn’t reason enough to pick up a book, reading has also been shown to alleviate symptoms associated with depression! The effects of reading on depression have in fact been recognised by the NHS, who have developed a ‘books on prescription’ program called ‘Reading Well’. Information on this can be found at https://reading-well.org.uk.
The good news is that you don’t need to read anything in particular to gain positive benefits from reading. In fact, reading whatever you most enjoy is likely to have the greatest impact for you!
This is where we can help…
Throughout the SGS College LRCs we have a wonderful collection of fiction and non-fiction books, graphic novels, journals, magazines, and textbooks for you to borrow. We also have lots of books to help you understand and support your own well-being, including self-help books, biographies, textbooks, and fictions books that address real life issues. Some of these can be seen on the poster below!
If you would like any further information on our well-being collection please either go to the LRC website at lrc.sgscol.ac.uk, or get in contact with us directly via phone, email, or at your nearest LRC Helpdesk!
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