Thursday, April 2, 2009

This doesn't explain much

Problem - Stress. Solution - Read:
Reading can reduce stress levels by 68 per cent, according to the
University of Sussex research...

Subjects only needed to read, silently, for six minutes to slow down the
heart rate and ease tension in the muscles [the study] found. In fact it got
subjects to stress levels lower than before they started.
Well. Does this mean when I'm too stressed to read, the very last thing I should be doing is not reading in order to not be more stressed? Still, six minutes? I somehow don't see teachers and professors looking too kindly on students pulling out textbooks: "But it lowers my stress levels!" Still, the results only get stranger: drinking coffee and playing video games can also relieve stress. By 54% and 21% respectively. I'm starting to wonder what books these test subjects were reading that made them so comparatively stressed out...

3 comments:

  1. oooh that explains people falling asleep with books on their heads..

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  2. I can believe the coffee thing - it's easier to relax when you're fighting to stay awake!

    And books, yes: unless they're written by Russians, in which case, it's all devastation, al the time.

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  3. It depends on what you read. I don't think Faulkner or Joyce would help me de-stress. :)

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