Negative effect of excessive reading

I always say that too much of anything is never good. I think that everything requires balance and handling things in a balanced way.

hmm i think the problem of your friend is not about too much reading. but he can't separate the event/story in the book from his own reality. he often imagines as if his life were like those in the book. this habit could be dangerous for the long run, because it can destroy his social life. i think you may be right about reading as a form of escapism. maybe he has too many unresolved problems in his life, then he seeks the answers in the book, and when he finds the answer, he cannot apply it in his real life. so, he unconsciously pretends that he is doing things like people in the book are doing. before i also read lots of books. but now i read lots of articles on internet. it is more comfortable:)

I think that if all that you do is read then that is bad for you because you forget that the world that you read about is not the real world and is not the same as the world that you live in. In addition to this I think you have to remember that human beings need to exercise on a regular basis, and if you are spending all of your time reading then you probably don't get the right amount of exercise that you should be getting in order to take care of your body. Also, human beings have a need to be sociable and if you don't go out, you're not getting this aspect of your life so this may be dangerous to your personality in the future years.

There are no negative effects of excessive reading. We have been taken to an entirely different plane of existing. Reality is a lie. Nothing about reality is realistic. Only the truth can really be found within the written words. Reality is an awful place, with awful people, with a wretched race called humans. There is no such thing is negative affects from reading. Everyone who is mired in reality are poor, lost souls, who will be sucked into a pit of depravity and horrid actions of people trying to cause people great misery in the world. No seriously, there is nothing wrong with books. It is real life that has the problem. Perhaps if the real world was a much better place, than we wouldn't feel the need to escape. Granted, there are some people who get a bit too into books, I'll reluctantly grant you that much. Of course, that could be a byproduct of many things. The author is just so good that the characters are always on the mind and the real world quite frankly sucks. I mean, just turn on the news and you'd really see it. Still there will be times where we unfortunately have to step into the real world. That is a wretched point that I am forced to concede. Still the good of the books by an infinite amount way out the bad.

ya i too agree with you i had a niece, she is similar to the same kind of your friend. i observed her that, she reads a lot and she is always pretend and act to those of characters of the books she read.... These characters are sticky in there minds, what ever we try, we cant change them.....

Hmm... like most I don't think the problem is excessive reading. Uhm... you mentioned escapism. That is the problem I think. It's not the same as excessive reading, nor is it the effect of excessive reading. A person can read only one fantasy book/story/series, say for example, and become too engrossed in it, and 'escape' into that world. That can be bad. Yet another person can read 'excessively', having read all fantasy books out there, all detective stories, all mysteries, all love stories, etc etc etc that he/she can get his/her hands on... but choose to live in reality. That is not bad. =)

I also agree with other mylotters here, There is no such thing as excessive reading. In fact, everyone should read more, reading should be advocated since teens nowadays do not even READ! all they do is copy and paste from internet their projects! such a shame! I LOVE READING. I am a huge fan of reading, i also read books and crave for more..i could finish one book in just one sitting especially if its one that i really am looking forward to.. like the one fron Dan brown - the lost word. I read that in one sitting lol and i was like time warped and cannot be disturbed. You see when you read, and you like it you get so engrossed with the stories that that is all you can think about rhejans, you analize the characters, you look for their qualities and as if its real and i do not see anything wrong with that, that is reading..and not just scanning. Maybe you cannot relate with your friend because you have not tried reading that way. On my part, i am advocating reading to my children and wants them to love reading too. it an escape from reality yes, but it is a good way because you LEARN and if you want to travel and learn you READ and you get to go see places and learn places even though you are just reading. It is magical to some sort.

i don't think there is something wrong with him being a huge reader. your classmate though lacks the ability to determine if the audience are not interested anymore with what he is telling. maybe something to improve on. but there is nothing wrong with someone who has a wide imagination.

I don't think there's such a thing as too much reading, especially in this day and age. I don't quite understand, what's so bad about having a broad imagination? I'm a big reader. I'm a HUGE reader. I read more than anyone I know. I typically finish 2-3 books a week and I ALWAYS carry a book with me wherever I go... but I really wouldn't describe myself as out of touch with reality. (And I don't think anyone else would either, and if they did then they'd just be plain mean.) I have great friends, I'm active in school and I make great grades. If anything, excessive reading has had a positive effect on my life.

I agree with allyoftherain on this. I love to read. Imagination is a wonderful thing! Too few people exhibit it. Imagination begets new ideas and great things. The greatest writers, artists, explorers, inventors, philosophers used their imaginations and were told they were out of touch or just plain crazy.

Hmmm...That's kind of weird thing to say something negative about reading. I guess it really depends on the reading person's disposition in life. What's happening to you're schoolmate shouldn't be blamed on excessive reading but to the way he responds to what he/she read. That's the real culprit. Also the kind of materials he/she reads may have brought upon the negative. The only thing I can see negative about reading alot is eye strain or eye problems, really.