Reading Books Helps with My Schizoaffective Anxiety

Reading books helps immensely with my schizoaffective disorder and my schizoaffective anxiety. Reading books is a great escape, too, and gives value to my time. But it’s a catch-22 because, in order for me to be able to concentrate on a book, my schizoaffective anxiety has to be at a lower level than it usually is.

Reading Books Is Hard Since My Anxiety Spiked

I used to read voraciously. I especially liked books about women’s studies and Philippa Gregory’s historical fiction about the Tudor Court in Great Britain. (You may have heard of the best-seller The Other Boleyn Girl, which was made into a movie starring Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson.)

But, something happened. A few years ago, my anxiety spiked to the point where I couldn’t concentrate enough to read more than a page or two of a book without putting it down. To me, this is tragic. That may sound melodramatic, but it’s how I feel. You see, I can think of few things better than getting lost in a good book. In fact, some of my fondest memories are of reading books—from reading Jane Eyre in college, all the way back to reading Little House On the Prairie when I was nine.

This Schizoaffective Can Still Get Lost in a Good Book Sometimes

I can still read magazine articles and articles, in general, online. But that’s not the same problem. Articles tend to be short and don’t require a long attention span. They typically take less than five minutes to read.

It’s not as though I can’t get lost in a good book sometimes, though. I devoured two books back-to-back a couple of years ago, and as recently as last week, I read a whole book in less than a week. (Interestingly, all of these books were about women’s studies.) I think I was able to get lost in the book last week because my husband Tom took a week of vacation time off work and I felt less anxious since he was around.

Even though magazines don’t give the same benefits to my schizoaffective anxiety as books, I do subscribe to magazines so I have something to read.

After last week, I tried to read a couple of novels but neither of them grabbed my attention the way the book I read last week did. I’ve even tried re-reading old favorites but that hasn’t seemed to work, either.

Last night I dreamed I read The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir. Maybe I should give that a go once again. If it doesn’t work out, you can find me at my local library or book store, desperately searching for my next engrossing read.