"We don't dare to imagine," says the philosopher Alain de Botton, "that culture has a purpose connected to saving your life. We imagine that culture's a really nice thing to visit on a Sunday – you go to the museum or you pick up a book. The idea that culture is literally a resource by which to live is oddly neglected."
This is the idea behind "bibliotherapy", a service offered at De Botton's School of Life in London, where literary therapists guide their "patients" towards books that might help inform or enrich their lives.
But what about your experiences of reading as therapy? We would like you to share photos and stories of the books that have saved your life. Perhaps you turned to a literary classic during a difficult time and found insights that helped you survive. Or maybe you retreated to the comforting familiarity of a book you read when you were young. Whether it's the wisdom of Eeyore or EL James that has helped put your problems in perspective, we'd love to hear from you.
Tell us about your favourite, life-saving books in our GuardianWitness assignment – which closes on Monday – or post your stories in the comments section below.
We will publish a selection of the best pictures and stories in the next issue of Do Something, out on 8 February, so please upload high-resolution images.
