Five Mental Advantages Of Reading Books

"I can feel infinitely alive curled up on the sofa reading a book." – Benedict Cumberbatch

The benefits of reading books are endless, but knowing the 5 most important mental benefits can even help us look at life differently. Reading books is perhaps the calmest, most relaxing and most humane daily activity that has been done by people for centuries. It is a fun and educational activity at the same time. This action, which has many benefits, stands out with its mental benefits behind its physical ones.

1. Mental Stimulation and Increased Knowledge: Reading books stimulates brain functions and increases mental stimulation. Learning new information, expanding vocabulary, and improving thinking ability increases overall intellectual capacity. Acquiring information, especially on subjects such as history, science and culture, expands general culture and world view.
2. Stress Reduction and Relaxation: A good book can distract you from daily stress and anxiety. Immersing yourself in an in-depth story can relax your mind and help you cope with stress. This provides spiritual and emotional relief, which are necessities for a stable life and its stages.
3. Developing Empathy and Understanding: Books allow you to enter the world of different characters and cultures. This helps you understand others' perspectives and improves your sense of empathy. For instance, fiction books, in particular, gives you a good ability to evaluate situations and to better understand human behaviour and emotional reactions.
4. Ability to Concentrate and Focus: Reading a book requires long-term attention and concentration as an action. This process strengthens focus skills and can increase attention span. Complex and detailed stories are especially effective for improving concentration skills. Some behavioral scientists recommend reading books in cases such as having ADHD, as known as attention deficit, as a practice to increase focus time.
5. Creativity and Imagination: Books develop imagination with rich descriptions and creative expressions. You can make new mental connections through different worlds, characters and scenarios and increase your creative thinking ability. Books, especially fantasy and science fiction, can stimulate the imagination.

Bonus: Do you also know that books, which develop a positive and objective perspective on life, increase the communication between the neurons in our brains as the part we cannot see, and prevent problems that may occur in the brain and memory functions in old age?

These benefits, which I have observed myself and so can you, can sometimes even be a savior in the hustle and bustle of daily life. I am very proud that I had the opportunity to learn this at a young age. I grew up being taught about books since I was a baby. I would like to tell you something my father said to me when I was 5 or 6 years old; "Reading a book is like getting to know a person. They are all experiences. You may be prejudiced by the cover, but the content is good, you never know. The ones you like from the beginning may end badly, or the ones you don't like may surprise you. You can also read a very bad book, if you don't like it at all, you leave the book without seeing the end. However, you will be proud that you read and learned some things. Life and people are just like that."

As I'm coming to the end, I would like to share some more quotes about reading books. Here they are:

"Have books 'happened' to you? Unless your answer to that question is 'yes', I’m unsure how to talk to you." – Haruki Murakami

"Reading is important. If you know how to read, then the whole world opens up to you." – Barack Obama

"A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies... The man who never reads lives only one." – George R.R. Martin, A Dance with Dragons

"Many a book is like a key to unknown chambers within the castle of one's own self." – Franz Kafka

Just enjoy reading your book and have fun.