When a Story Heal: Literature as a Therapy for The Heart | by Laila Fitrotul | Nov, 2025
Have you ever felt a little peaceful after reading a story that seemed to understand your feelings?
This question doesn’t come without a reason. Many people might not realize that reading the stories isn’t only about entertainment or an activity to fill your spare time, but also something that accompanied us through our personal journey. When we read the stories about loneliness, struggle, and happiness, something within us slowly begins to understand. The stories seems to read our minds and invite us to pause for a while to reflect our condition that we may not to express directly.
Literature doesn’t offer a medicine, but it has a space. Why so? Basically, we as a human experiences both joy and pain throughout our lives. But, not everything can be expressed through a word — its too complex. Sometimes, we need reflections to see how the world truly works , one of the way is reading a literary work, such as a book. As our parents and teachers taught us since we were child that books is windows of world. Through read a book, we can gain some new insights which can open our minds to the fact that the world is wide and diverse, providing another perspective in responding to problems. And as we grow older, we realize that the stories is a reflection of life itself. When we reading a book and spontaneously thought like “This relates to me”, “This character is going through the same thing I am”
We are not only following the storyline, but also unlocking memories that might be forgotten. Stories can make us cry without shame, laugh endlessly, and even express our feelings without being judged by others. There is a sense of relief that comes with reading a story that relates to our circumstances, making us feel that we are not alone in this world. Literature isn’t merely entertainment, but it also teaches us that pain and sadness are parts of life. Therefore, we shouldn’t generalize or invalidate others people’s feelings just because they differ from our perspective, since everyone experiences emotions on different levels.
The idea of literature as a therapy for the heart is not an empty claim. Several studies have shown that reading can influence how a person processes emotions. In psychology, this is referred to Bibliography, a view that promotes cognitive changes through reading, discussing, and reflecting literary works a form of psychological support (Fraustro, et al 2021). A research conducted by Fraustro, et al (2021) entitled “Bibliotherapy as a Non-pharmaceutical Intervention to Enhance Mental Health in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mixed-Methods Systematic Review and Bioethical Meta-Analysis“ revealed that participants were able to reinterpret their life experiences, review their values in a new way, and bring out moral values and self-control. This shows that reading, discussing, and rethinking a literary work provides space for a person to find peace, reflect on themselves, and strengthen their human values.
Not only that, there is a research entitled “Five studies evaluating the impact on mental health and moodofrecalling, reading, and discussing fiction” by Carney & Robertson (2022), also found that reading fiction has a positive impact for mental health. The research showed that activities such as reading, discussion, and recalling fiction help reduce emotional tension and increase mood. This happens because readers position themselves as the characters, experiences a conflict, and explore the meaning behind the events occurred. Thus, reading isn’t merely an activity in the spare time, but it become bridge between human emotions and the stories.
That’s why literature is called a therapy for the heart. It might not heal like a doctor, but acts as a friend who accompanies us in the process of self-reflection. Through its stories, literature provides space for our hearts to reflect and absorb every event that occurs, so that often, we will feel the same things as the characters experience. Between the lines, we will slowly discover something valuable, namely that we are not alone in facing the harshness of the world.
