practical living
Words from the wise
Books and reading help to
promote mental health and
wellbeing for all ages.
By Nerelie Teese
F
rom well before the time of the ancient Egyptians the
value that books and reading offer humanity has been
very well understood. Pharaoh Ramses II was so aware of
this his library had the words ‘The house of healing for the soul’
inscribed above its entrance.
Eight hundred years later, the great philosopher Aristotle
understood that literature and reading offered healing to human
minds and bodies. In more modern times Shakespeare, through
the words of Titus Andronicus, says “Come, and take choice of all
my library, And so beguile thy sorrow ...”
Then, towards the end of the greatest conflict our world has
ever known, battle weary WWI soldiers took comfort and strength
from reading material provided for them in veteran hospital
libraries across England.
Accounts from that era show that soldiers diagnosed with
shell-shock, now better under-stood as post-traumatic shock
disorder, would begin talking to doctors about their war
experiences and their feelings after reading literature such as
Shakespeare and classic poetry.
In the words of British academic and bibliotherapist Sir
Jonathan Bate: “Over the centuries great poets return to the
themes of love and death and memory and it is often through
their poetry we realise we are not alone.”
Bate advises that words have the power to “act like drugs” and
that literature and poetry are able to help and support many
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people in all sorts of challenging circumstances, including anxiety,
depression, heartbreak, sadness and grief.
Connecting with words and images in literature and poetry
shows us that others have lived through similar experiences –
long before we were born. This realisation often brings the
understanding that ‘This, too, shall pass.’
It is no surprise then that Bate recommends using literature
and poetry to tweak the memory and reawaken remembrances
of childhood joy: of happy days and beautiful places, of loved
ones we have lost, or feeling at peace and at one with the natural
world.
And while facilitated shared reading groups in the UK, US and
Australia are able to choose from the wealth of classic literature
and poetry, it is not surprising that each nation will also select
work from its own writers and poets.
When considering Australia’s aged care residents and the
theories supporting bibliotherapy and facilitated shared reading
group programs, it is no wonder that the words of Henry
Lawson, Banjo Patterson, Steele Rudd and others bring the joy of
recognition to many faces.
I found when presenting Dorothea Mackellar’s much loved
poem My Country in retirement villages and residential
homes that faces lit up and many residents recited the poem.
Interestingly, many of them had not heard or thought of this
poem since their school days, so it had been deep-seated in
their long term memories.
Recalling this poem and their school days triggered many
other memories for residents and these were then discussed
with the writer and with other residents, carers and family
members for days afterwards. The individual and social capital
benefits from live performances as discussed in the article
‘Words Move Minds’ (see references) are definitely transferable to
facilitated shared reading group activities.
Unsurprisingly, and beneficially, facilitated shared reading
group programs are now becoming more and more popular for