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The Hidden Gems Author Podcast
Episode 70 – Words as Medicine: How Reading and Writing Can Support Mental Health
Hosted by: Craig Tuch and Roland Hulme with special guest Amey Zeigler
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, which means there’s no better time to discuss the crucial role that reading and writing play in promoting good mental hygiene. Writing benefits us authors in a variety of ways, such as providing a mental workout for the brain, or serving as a cathartic outlet for dealing with personal traumas or toxic personalities in our lives. Meanwhile, well-written fiction can allow readers to more easily identify with our stories, allowing them to take inspiration in the struggles and triumphs of our characters and use them as inspiration in finding a path forward in their own lives.
Today, romance author Amey Zeigler shares her personal experiences of using reading and writing to cope with mental health challenges. As a reader, Amey found that her connection to a novel she read helped her cope with the post-partum depression she was battling, and as an author, she discovered how her writing connected with and lifted the spirits of readers facing their own struggles. As Amey explains, authors that use their life experiences to create more powerful characters and stories can find deeper and more transformative connections to their readers.
Not only could this be therapeutic for both, but often a strong and meaningful connection is all it takes for readers to start recommending your book to everyone they know, which can do far more for sales than any expensive ad campaign you might run.
Amey Zeigler
http://www.ameyzeigler.com/