Could self-help books be the last word in healthy living?

When the aptly named Samuel Smiles published the very first self-help book more than 150 years ago, it was with the very best of intentions.

Smiles was one of those no-nonsense Victorian types and his book, entitled simply Self-Help, was little short of a sensation. Published on November 29, 1859 – the same day as Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species – Smiles promised his readers the key to power and success.

Opening with the gem “Heaven helps those who help themselves,” Smiles’s work was based on the theory that “with hard work a man can accomplish anything”. The book went onto sell millions of copies and jump-started the self-help industry.

Today that industry is worth more than a $11bn in the US and in this country, life coaches, personal mentors and motivational speakers have made careers, and in some cases small fortunes, by selling the promise of a better life.

Tap self-help into Amazon and there are currently 263,923 titles to peruse. Some claim to help boost low self-esteem, others pledge to calm troubled nerves and if proof were needed that the industry is out of control, there’s even a handful of self-help guides on how to write self-help books.

While the field is a magnet for unproven theories and unregulated gurus of 
questionable experience, self-help is about to receive backing from an unlikely source – the medical professional.

Launching next Tuesday, the Reading Well Books on Prescription (BOP) scheme, a partnership between the Reading Agency charity and the Society of Chief Librarians, will see libraries across England stock a core list of 30 self-help titles to assist people with common conditions such as depression, anxiety, phobias and eating disorders.

So far, 127 libraries have signed up, which equates to 84 per cent of England’s network, and, while the list will be there for GPs to make suggestions, the books will be available to everybody.

“The model was first developed in Cardiff by psychologist Professor Neil Frude,” explains Debbie Hicks, head of research for the Reading Agency.

“There’s been a scheme in Wales since 2005 and lots of local schemes in England and Scotland. What we’ve done is pool all that best practice together and create the first national scheme for England.

“We looked at books already being used, then had an expert panel whittle them down to 30.”

That panel included representatives from the Royal College of GPs, Royal College of Psychiatrists, British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and the mental health charity Mind, and the scheme operates within National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines.

“Evidence is growing that self-help is effective,” says Dr Paul Blenkiron, consultant in adult psychiatry for Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and one of the BOP panel of experts. “Most of the books on the list are based on cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), which is an effective treatment for common mental health problems, backed up by solid research evidence.

“The conditions covered include anxiety, stress, depression, panic, phobias, obsessive compulsive disorder, eating disorders and sleep problems. There are also books on some physical conditions, such as chronic pain and chronic fatigue. However, the scheme is not a substitute for other care, but an addition that gives people choice.”

One benefit of the scheme is that it may reach those not currently receiving conventional treatment.

“There are 4.5 million people in England who are not getting clinical help for conditions like anxiety and depression,” says Hicks. “Many people are Googling advice and coming up with all sorts of things.

“We already know that a lot of people use libraries for health information, and having a quality endorsed book collection in libraries might be a crucial first step, to put them on the road to seeking help.

“We’ve been working on this area for 10 years now, around the health and wellbeing benefits of reading, and there’s growing evidence that reading itself can be very therapeutic

“You can escape in books. It’s something you can concentrate on, it takes you away from your surroundings, gives you something to immerse yourself in and to focus on, and I think all those things in relation to self-help reading can bring additional benefit.”

Reading Well Books on Prescription is launched next Tuesday. For more information and to see the full list of books, visit www.readingagency.org.uk