Let’s talk bookish ➙ Reading & Mental health

Good morning!

Somehow with the loss of our AC, i’ve managed to get an allergic brochitis.. As I had been sleeping with my window open😶 yay for allergens- that caused my irritations and lost of my voice xp (good thing I take daily allergy pills..)

Anyway! Today we shall be doing August 4th’s prompt, about Mental health impacting our reading; How does reading impact your mental health? If you’re feeling sad, do you read certain types of books, or reread old favorites? If you don’t read for a while, do you notice that impacting your overall well being? Do you ever take reading breaks?

Let’s Talk Bookish is a bookish meme that was created by Rukky @ Eternity books where each Friday, bloggers write posts discussing the topic of the week! Since the beginning of April, the meme has been taken over by Aria @ Book Nook Bits; She also created the pretty new graphics!

Thanksfully for me, my medication has been set and working pretty greatly, so I can’t say that I’ve felt that much depressed.. though I did felt a little bump in the way earlier this year with my reading & blogging slump. That was more of a mid-life crisis thing however, doubting everything 😅

I now have taken a new approach to slumps and things like that- where I ditch reading for a while and take into gaming instead. As it takes way less mental power than reading would.. I can just tune out, play some music in my headphones and play; waiting for the storm to pass me by.

If I do choose to pick a book to read before bed, I’d tend to go more into non-fiction. Which I’ve been reading so much more this year, effectively – I find it takes less mental power than fiction as they are usually bite sized stories.. and you don’t need to dig into your imagination much, it’s just like someone telling you a life story.

Years ago though, when I was more in a depressive episode, i’d grab more darker fiction – something usually dealing with suicide idealisation.. I remember for exemple My heart and other black holes, or even All the bright places. I tend to grab something that fit my sadness mood instead of going against it.

Related; Do you prefer to read your “mood” or go completely different?

For me, reading breaks don’t really impacts anything.. other than my blogging that is, being more of a book blog – as I replace it with another passion of mine for the time being. I usually spend most of my time gaming anyway, because my concentration span issues tend to not allow me to read in daytime and keep it solely at night once i’m comfy and unbothered in my bed.

What about you, do you relate? or are we different?