I am finding lately that reading is a great antidote to loneliness and depression. It’s a way to escape your everyday problems and feelings as you jump into another world completely. Sci-fi and fantasy, of course, are some of the more powerful genres as they create worlds vastly different than our own where anything is possible. But I have also been enjoying biographies. Seeing life from another persons perspective can give you a very different outlook on things. If anything else, reading helps to refocus your mind on something else than what’s troubling you.

Sure, reading is masking the problem rather than dealing with it, but you can’t always be working on your problems. Sometimes you need a break, a mental vacation and reading is perfect. It’s better than TV or movies too as reading involves the brain in a more active way. With video, you veg out more but with reading you are more an active participant in the story. You in involved in a much deeper and more satisfying way.

Some people take drugs to get their release. I completely understand this. At a certain point, you need to escape your reality and drugs are the quickest and easiest way to do it. Unfortunately, there are massive downsides to taking drugs, and so, I highly recommend reading as a safe alternative.