When the drugs didn’t work, author Rachel Kelly cured her depression by reading

WHEN I READ that a project wherein GPs prescribed self-help books to patients suffering mental health problems had been deemed a success, my first response was to google: ‘a noun meaning to be part of a trend’.

Because now, at last, I feel I can justifiably call myself a ‘trendster’, ‘hipster’ or even a ‘scenester’. For I have long been a passionate believer in the power of self-help books in particular and healing words more generally. I couldn’t be more thrilled that there is now evidence that book-based therapies can work.

A two-year evaluation report based on service users was released last week and clearly shows that the “Reading Well Books on Prescription” scheme works. Eighty-five per cent of those surveyed said that reading self-help books made them feel more confident in managing their symptoms, and fifty-five per cent believed it had helped reduce the common symptoms of mental health problems.

Books are indeed a uniquely portable magic, as Stephen King once said. I know this to be true from my own experience of severe depression. When the drugs didn’t seem to be working, and I was suicidal, it was a line from Corinthians in the Bible that pierced the blackness that engulfed me: ‘My grace is sufficient for thee; my strength is made perfect in weakness.’

Hearing these words softly recited by my mother at my bedside gave me hope. I would emerge stronger; there was sense to what had hitherto seemed senseless. It was the first stirring of positive will and it was all thanks to words on a page.

Since that first depressive episode eighteen years ago, I have devoured healing literature, especially poetry but self-help books too. I’m even part of a self-help book group.

In my experience I usually finish such books with one key piece of helpful advice to take away. So Living in the Moment: with Mindfulness Meditations by Anna Black for example, has helped me worry less about the future and spend less time regretting the past while James Wallman’s Stuffocation has helped me live more with less.

I’ve now written my own modest contribution to this genre. Walking on Sunshine: 52 Small Steps to Happiness holds the fruits of a lifetime’s devotion to self-help books. But it doesn’t just reflect what I’ve read. It also includes what I’ve learnt from others who suffer from depression while running workshops to foster good mental health using the consoling power of poetry. I run these workshops for Mind, Depression Alliance, and Cooltan Arts as well as bookshops including our own dear Idler Academy.

In each of the 52 short essays included, one for each week of the year, I share the tips and strategies I use to keep my own ‘Black Dog’ – as Churchill famously referred to depression – on a tight leash. If even one person who’s suffering feels like their symptoms are somewhat alleviated as a result of reading it, I will consider myself a happy hipster.

ENDS

Walking on Sunshine: 52 Small Steps to Happiness is published by Short Books and signed copies will be available for purchase from the Idler store. For more information please follow Rachel on Twitter @RachelKellyNet or visit www.rachel-kelly.net.