Bibliotherapy Proven to Reduce Depression and Increase Profits for Psychogurus

More than fifty years ago, the president of the American Psychological Association (APA) George Miller told his colleagues that it was time to ‘pass psychology on’. And no, he did not mean that they should leave their field of work, but to pass it on to the public, raise awareness of how psychology can help solve personal as well as social problems. Recently, the magazine The Conversation reminded readers of Miller’s proclamation, concluding that today, half a century later, his wish has been fully realized.

The general public is becoming acquainted with popular psychology through numerous headlines that are published almost daily, thematic podcasts, video series, courses, and TED Talks. Psychology has become the discipline with the most followers, and its ambassadors, psychologists with varying degrees of expertise, media stars, full-fledged brands.

Due to the inflation of popular psychology, The Conversation wonders whether this branch of science can truly change the lives of its fans for the better or merely leads them to become obsessed with themselves, and how relevant and expert the well-known faces of popular psychology actually are, and how much of it is just selling empty stories to reap a portion of the cream of that lucrative industry.

Three Genres

To begin with, popular psychology can be defined as an attempt to present psychological ideas to a wider audience. Like any scientific discipline, it has its own language. Through popularization, it becomes understandable to laypeople, and its ideas accessible, usable, tangible.

As The Conversation continues, popular psychology can unofficially be divided into three different genres. The first relates to books and media that introduce the wider public to the latest research and achievements in psychology; this content is most often authored by professional journalists or scientists. In fact, these works resemble any form of scientific communication, only they address the mind, brain, and behavior in a way that is understandable to a broader audience.

As examples of this genre, The Conversation highlights the books of psychologist and Nobel Prize-winning economist Daniel Kahneman ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’, neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux ‘The Emotional Brain’, and behavioral economist Dan Ariely ‘Predictably Irrational’.

The second genre can be described as applied psychology as it offers the audience practical advice on how to tackle everyday challenges using knowledge from psychology. This genre is primarily addressed by practitioners, less formally trained psychologists/scientists, and covers a much broader range of topics, from romantic relationships to productivity or better physical appearance.

The third genre targets individuals who have mental health difficulties. Pop psychologists from this genre offer practical advice but also help the audience improve functionality and reduce symptoms, for example, of anxiety or depression.

Not All Self-Help

The last two genres somewhat ‘fall into’ the self-help industry, which in one year, and only in America, ‘turns over’ 11 billion dollars in revenue. However, it should be noted that not all popular psychology is self-help (the first genre), nor is all self-help literature based on recognized psychological methods.

One of the best examples of authors with a psychological background who have succeeded as self-help brands is Brené Brown. In her bestsellers (‘Dare to Lead’, ‘The Gifts of Imperfection’, ‘Braving the Wilderness’), she explored themes of shame, courage, and vulnerability and decided to teach the audience how to embrace emotional exposure and find the necessary courage in everyday life. Although the ideas of courage and vulnerability are not new, Brown approached them by conducting her own research on experiences of shame among women and turned that data into the foundation of her teaching. TED Talks by psychologist Brown have over 38 million views, and she has her own special on Netflix.

Pros and Cons

The rise of popular psychology (and self-help) and the fact that this relatively new industry has created personal brands whose value is measured in tens of millions, even hundreds of millions of dollars, has polarized experts: some claim it is banal, even dangerous, while others are convinced that, just as Miller claimed at the beginning of the story, it has enormous potential to change individuals, and even society, for the better. Critics argue that many popular psychologists trivialize certain psychological knowledge or attribute too much significance to it, in order to give importance to themselves or their work.

Journalist Jesse Singal in his book ‘Quick Fix’ explored the gaps in bestsellers of popular psychology to confirm his thesis that this TED-talk-friendly content cannot heal either social or personal problems. Additionally, critics point out that attention-seeking pop psychologists ignore some cultural, economic, and social factors that also affect individuals’ lives. By focusing on the individual, they make them even more self-centered, and this, as the author of the book ‘Selfie’ Will Storr says, only feeds the desire for perfection (an unattainable goal).

As The Conversation writes, some resistance to popular psychology is unjustified. For instance, there can be a kind of snobbery (‘popular psychology is for people who are simpler, weaker, or – dumber’) or it may rest on the stereotype that self-help fans are desperate in a futile search for happiness and success. Despite this opinion, there is evidence that this search through popular psychology is not as futile as it seems.

Effective Treatment

For example, research on bibliotherapy (therapists/individuals prescribe books as tools to help with life challenges) provides hope that popular psychology can indeed change lives for the better. It has been shown that similar book therapy, whether it involves literature or self-help literature, can reduce symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorders, and that over the long term.

Even non-guided bibliotherapy, or book therapy that individuals prescribe for themselves, is only slightly less effective (but still effective) than that conducted by professionals. In other words, the effects of this type of therapy, which largely relies on titles from popular psychology literature, confirm that the stars from that world have stumbled upon a good business, and Miller was right when he said that psychology should be passed on to the world.

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