“Library Prescription”: Books work therapeutically in healing psychic wounds

They can the libraries to function therapeutically in the healing of psychic wounds? THE Athens Comics Library he answers in the affirmative and organizes a program in Greece, where to combat anxiety and mental disorders a… visit to a library is prescribed!

The program is entitled “Library Prescription” and aims at the cross-sectoral collaboration of libraries, health professionals and cultural activities with the aim of improving mental health and well-being. It is co-organized by the “Athens Comics Library” and the “Refugee Week Greece” festival in collaboration with the “European Cultural Foundation”, while the “Regional Development and Mental Health Society” (EPAPSY), specialized in mental health issues, will also cooperate in the implementation. .

The start of the pilot program has been made with stand-up comedy workshops that are currently being implemented at the “Athens Comics Library” in Athens, in the presence of a psychologist from EPAPSY, who also selected the participants based on their interest in mental health issues or the symptoms of anxiety or depression they may be experiencing.

Eleftheria Daflou, psychologist and volunteer and internship manager of EPAPSY, describes to APE-MPE how the bonds that have already been created between the participants in these workshops demonstrate the value of this program. She emphasizes: “There has been a lot of research on the benefits of culture in mental health, but I think what helps the most is that the more you deal with your emotions, the more understandable they become, and we think culture helps with holistic intervention. . And this is the way in which EPAPSY moves, we believe that when we talk about the recovery of a person, it is a process that does not stop, it is dynamic and holistic”.

Afterwards, the methodology and tools that will be developed in the stand-up comedy workshops will be passed on to four other libraries, whose staff will be trained at the beginning of the program.

After an open call, in which 45 applications were submitted from all over Greece, four libraries were selected: the library of the University of Patras, the municipal library of the municipality of Filothei-Psychikos, the municipal library of Rapsanis of the municipality of Tempo and the library of the Agricultural Reservation Store of Agia Chania.

Each of the libraries will implement a different program, which resulted from a dialogue with the community in which it is located. But at the center of all actions in all five libraries is the storytelling and the healing power of the stories that people are invited to create and share. Leda Chene from the “Athens Comics Library” clarifies speaking to APE-MPE that “when we say storytelling we don’t just mean reading a book, we mean anything that allows us to make a story and connect with others through it. Even something that may not seem to be connected to the context of storytelling actually involves this practice and that’s because as humans we are born storytellers, we all tell stories from morning to night even when we don’t realize it.”

Specifically, the Patras library in collaboration with the University’s Social Care team will do creative writing for young people who experience feelings of depression or isolation. The library in Agia is planning online tours of museums and discussions around them, in order to open a window to the outside world for the prisoners. The Filotheis-Psychikou library will cooperate with the Social Care Center for People with Mental Retardation “Estia” and they will implement the “Ten minutes reading” program, where the participants, young people with mental retardation aged 25-35, will read their own them, favorite book for ten minutes. Finally, the library of Rapsani, in collaboration with the women of the area, will make a botanical list of herbs from the area and will present personal stories about these herbs. Referrals of participants to all libraries will be made by social workers or psychologists.

“Narrative plays a very important role in how each of us perceives ourselves and defines our personality. Stories can help us better organize our memories around an important event and thus decode it and thus manage it better. And it’s true that once you’ve managed to construct a narrative around your life, your journey, or about significant events that have happened to you, and you’ve managed to describe them in the context of a larger story, suddenly all those events become somewhat smaller. , the smaller chapters of a larger story and thus we can manage them more easily. Also, by sharing your own story and listening to the story of others you realize that we are parts of a bigger story and many times we identify with others and thus a community is built around the narratives”, observes Ms. Chene.

The value of culture in addressing mental health problems has been recognized internationally. It is noted that also in Greece the Ministry of Culture and Sports and the Ministry of Health have co-signed a memorandum of cooperation for the design and implementation of a cultural prescription program, through which artistic activities will be prescribed to supervised cultural institutions as part of a wider therapeutic treatment. The implementation of this project will be carried out by the Research University Institute of Mental Health, New Sciences and Precision Medicine “Kostas Stefanis”.

Great experience in cultural prescribing from the National Health System (NHS) is available in England. Dina Dziora from Athens Comics Library has worked on such a program during her time at Bristol City Arts and Culture Centre. As he describes in APE-MPE, the Culture Center cooperated with general practitioners to refer mostly elderly people who were experiencing isolation and depression to activities of artistic groups in their neighborhood.

“Cultural prescription is an opportunity for socialization and an opportunity for people to put the part of art and engagement with the public in their everyday life. They get out of the house, communicate with other people and see that they are not alone and that takes the stigma out of what they are either clinically diagnosed with or feel they have. What I think is also important is the sense of belonging, we all want to feel that we are part of a group, share our stories and listen to others’ stories, learn from others and understand that we all have a path in life and some situations can to get us out of it. I think that art is also a great opportunity to discover and understand the world around you”, points out Ms. Dziora.

She clarifies that the program planned by the “Athens Comics Library” in Greece is about “social prescription and not medicine, it is not an alternative treatment instead of drugs, it is always a complementary treatment. We are not trying to marginalize health professionals, we do not believe that this program can cure someone from a mental health issue. The program empowers and empowers the community to accelerate mental health improvement.”

The “Library Prescription” program is a key axis of a wider two-year program prepared by the “Athens Comics Library” entitled “Shelter Libraries”, which aims to create a network of libraries, which will be a safe haven for all and encourage the participation, creativity and mutual learning and support.

RES-EMP

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