Read for your health at your local library

A new report shows that an increasing number of people are using books from the Reading Well Books on Prescription scheme to help them with mental health issues.

Libraries throughout North Yorkshire, including those in Selby, Sherburn, have been part of this national scheme since it began in 2013.

The report by the Reading Agency demonstrates the enormous need for self-help with mental health, showing that loans of mental health self-help books in England have increased by 97 per cent since 2013. English libraries also saw a 346 per cent increase in loans of books specifically aimed at people with dementia during 2015.

In North Yorkshire, titles from the Books on Prescription collection have been borrowed 2,300 times during the last year. Since the Reading Well dementia collection for those who have dementia and their carers was launched in North Yorkshire in February there have been 929 loans of books from that collection.

Figures indicate that nearly a fifth of adults in the UK experience anxiety or depression alone, and three quarters of this group may not be receiving any treatment. The report reveals that 90 per cent of those who had borrowed a book from the Reading Well common mental health core list of 30 titles said it had been helpful; 85 per cent said that reading the books made them feel more confident about managing their symptoms.

Conditions covered by Reading Well Books on Prescription for common mental health conditions include anger, anxiety, binge eating, chronic pain, depression, health anxiety, obsessions and compulsions, panic, phobias, relationship problems, self-esteem, sleep problems, social phobias, stress and worry. The collection also includes "mood-boosting" fiction titles.

The books can be borrowed from North Yorkshire libraries and can be ordered via their online library catalogue.

In North Yorkshire libraries over the last year, the most frequently borrowed book from the collection was Still Alice, a novel exploring the experience of a linguistics professor who develops early onset Alzheimer's disease. Also popular was Simon Atkin's First Steps to Living with Dementia, an easily accessible introduction to the subject, and The Girl Who Lived in the Radiator, an account of the author's mother's journey with dementia. Other top titles centred on books to help with anxiety, including Susan Jeffer's Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway and Overcoming Anxiety by Helen Kennerley.

County Councillor Chris Metcalfe, North Yorkshire's Executive Member for Libraries, said: "I'm delighted that the Reading Well Books on Prescription collection is proving so popular. It is a great resource in helping people find ways to manage some of the more difficult aspects of their lives, from reducing their own stress and anxiety to finding out how to help a loved one who has dementia."

More information about the Reading Well collection is available at reading-well.org.ukw.