CSR: Read To Stay Mentally Healthy

According to a recent study, the average attention span of human beings has declined from 12 seconds in the year 2000 to 8 seconds in 2015. With the fast pace of life, and enormous amount of content available for everyone to consume, it has become very difficult for individuals to build patience and attentively consume a lot of information.

However, aside from this barrage of people, there is a cult that works steadily around this rush and leaves tremendous impact on individuals. The cult of book lovers and readers.

Reading has been recommended as a good habit by a lot of motivational speakers and leaders. This has impacted a lot of young people, who has taken up to reading books giving voice to many writers around the world. Social media has only made it easier to connect them with each other and start a movement that has a long-lasting impact.

Reading has the power to impact one’s personality. Which is why there has been a lot of demand for books that narrate stories of the survivors, or refugees. And these books have also caused a movement among many who uproot their lives to dedicate them for volunteering to help these victims.

Apart from this, reading also has a tremendous impact on mental health. Experts say that it takes only six minutes for the body to start relaxing if the mind is absorbed in a good book. In fact, when reading was tested against many traditional forms of relaxation, it reduced stress by 68% and was the highest-ranked method among those tested.

Reading is also helpful in treating insomnia. This is good news for people who are susceptible to mental health issues, because people who have trouble sleeping are more likely to get depression.

Keeping your brain active later in life with activities like reading can also help slow memory decline. Studies have suggested reading and mentally engaging activities can reduce the likelihood of an Alzheimer’s Disease diagnosis.