Bibliotherapy and Me

I was today years old when I first came across the term Bibliotherapy. I came across a post by the The Reading Agency while I was browsing on LinkedIn asking for people who had been prescribed fiction books to help with their mental health to get in touch for a BBC Future story.

Although I’d not heard the term before, the idea of books helping wasn’t a knew thing to me. I was intrigued though to hear of it being formally prescribed by therapists. A little bit of research later and I discovered it’s been around for over a decade. The catalogue of benefits of bibliotherapy are many of the reasons why I have enjoyed reading throughout my life.

When I first read the word, before I understood it’s definition in terms of therapy, it put me in mind of how books and libraries became my sanctuary as a child and a teenager. Like many people I know, I was bullied throughout my childhood. I didn’t fit the mould in so many ways.

I couldn’t tell you the first time I went to a library, but I am pretty sure it was Corstorphine Library in Edinburgh. I can recall begging my parents to take me on a Saturday morning, and then spending Friday afternoons there when I was old enough to go by myself. I also remember being first frustrated when I was only allowed to borrow three books at a time, and later elated when, as a teenager, the number was increased to twelve.

I can recall losing myself in as many Enid Blyton books as I could get my hands on. It was in this same library I discovered The Haunted Mountain by Mollie Hunter: a book I read over and over again. A few years ago, I managed to find a copy of the same edition I used to borrow. Before I was even close to being old enough, I had advanced to the teenage section where I found Sweet Valley High books, Point Horror and Point Romance.

The most important thing about the library though, was that it was a place to escape to. A sanctuary. My bullies were far too cool to be seen there, and so they never discovered that’s where I hid. Later, when I went to high school, the same was true of the school library. I was even managed to persuade the librarian to allow me inside before it was officially open at lunchtimes.

Even as an adult, merely being in the presence of books brings me a feeling of calm. If I’m feeling low, or anxious, a trip to the library (or a bookshop for that matter) is enough to soothe. (Being near water is the only other thing I’ve found that comes close.)

It's too long ago for me to remember if my love of reading made me seek out libraries, or if seeking out libraries made me the reader I am today. (Although my mum tells the story that, after my first day of school I refused to go back because I was unable to read yet!) What I do know, with the benefit of hindsight, is that without either, I would not be the person I am today. I am a reader, an author, an editor and I have compassion for others.

While this may not fit the definition of Bibliotherapy as it has been determined in recent years, there is no doubt in my mind that books, used in the right way, are of huge benefit to a person’s mental health.