Consider a resolution of reading for mental health
By Amy Atwood
In the New Year, many people look to give up a bad habit or start a good habit. Typically, the most common habits to focus on are physical health-related, like starting a new diet or some form of exercise. Mississippi College professor Dr. David Miller explains why prioritizing mental health by picking up reading as a habit in 2025 is just as important as exercising.
Dr. David Miller
Miller has lived in Clinton and worked as an English literature and writing professor at Mississippi College for thirty-three years. He currently teaches multiple classes, including British romantic poetry; Shakespeare; early American literature; and sentence, grammar and style.
According to Miller, “Quantitative studies suggest that reading helps in a couple of major areas. One, it helps in just thinking, having to process language, which is one of the great human skills. Reading strengthens those skills of contextual learning, strengthens those skills of analysis, synthesis, and connective thinking.”
However, in terms of mental health, Miller says that reading makes humans more empathetic and compassionate towards others. When reading fiction and nonfiction narratives, the reader puts themselves in someone else’s shoes, into another person’s life, recognizing that they are not that person, but can identify with them and their experiences. That experience fosters empathy, which then grows compassion, says Miller.
“Human beings process the world through story. We tell stories about ourself, we tell stories about the world, we tell stories about other people, we tell stories about science,” says Miller. “What is a math equation, but a story? It has a beginning, a middle, an end; it’s a narrative. If someone says to me, ‘How was your day?’ and I tell them what happened, that’s a story. We as human beings process the world narratively. Reading only strengthens our understanding of narrative.”
To start a habit of reading in the new year, Miller’s advice is to attach it to another habit. One habit can then reinforce the starting of another habit. His recommended way to pick up reading is to first recognize that comic books, long form articles on the internet and audiobooks are all forms of reading, and it is okay to start small.
Miller also cautions readers to not get caught up in the quantity and comparison to others’ reading habits. Miller says that “all reading is good reading – read what you want to read.”
Miller is currently reading Sally Rooney’s new novel, Intermezzo. In the new year, he says he looks forward to reading a new biography on Henry the V by Dan Jones, as well as Robin Wall Kimmerers new book, The Serviceberry.
