'A poem a day keeps the gloom away': reading and wellbeing

We recruited a panel of people living in Scotland to complete regular surveys about their experiences of reading between March and August 2020. The full report, Reading in Scotland: Reading over lockdown(this link will open in a new window) is available to read now.

Throughout the study it was clear that that the majority of the panel found reading important to their wellbeing:

• 98% agreed that reading supports their wellbeing
• 97% agreed that reading helps them to relax
• 92% agreed that reading has been important to them in times of stress or anxiety throughout their lives

'A poem a day keeps the doom away'

Reading can be a comfort, an escape and even help us get a good night's sleep. Many of the readers on our panel told us how reading had been helping them to cope through the lockdown:

• 'I find it as essential as my daily walk to take a mental break from the current situation'
• 'I am being reminded of the positive power of reading and what I've been missing as my reading has slowed down so much over the last few years. It is transformational'
• 'I use audiobooks when I suffer from insomnia or panic attacks to help calm me'

There are lots of ways you can build reading into your day to create some moments of calm:

• Evenings are the most popular time to read, with 86% of our panel reporting reading at bedtime. Reading can help your brain get ready to sleep, even if you only read for ten minutes
• If you're not commuting at the moment, book-end your working day with a chapter or a short story to ease you in and out of work mode
• It's a good idea to get away from your desk and out into the sunlight as much as possible. Try a stroll with an audiobook to give your brain and body a proper break

Each week our panel shared reading tips for us to share. Some of our favourite wellbeing tips include:

• 'Be kind to yourself. Take comfort in a familiar read and don’t worry about choosing something ‘easier’ than you’re used to. A wee bit of reading is better than no reading at all'
• 'Pick what you read more carefully if you are struggling with sleep or anxiety. I'm going to go back to reading more children's fiction'
• 'Reading has to be rewarding, especially in a time like this. Some people I know are pushing themselves to read things that they have been struggling with for years, but I don’t think that is helpful when there are so many other challenges at the moment'