Updated on: 18/02/2022
Craft can alleviate the symptoms of anxiety, depression, loneliness and even dementia, according to research. Here are some ways in which making can help heal the mind.
Engaging with the arts boosts mental wellbeing
Research published by University College London’s MARCH mental health network – formed in 2018, with members including the Crafts Council and the Museums Association – shows that engaging with the visual arts can reduce reported anxiety, and that visiting museums can protect against dementia’s development. ‘Cultural activities encourage gentle movement, reduce social isolation, and lower inflammation and stress hormones such as cortisol,’ said the report’s author, Dr Daisy Fancourt. ‘The arts are linked with dopamine release, which encourages cognitive flexibility, and they reduce our risk of dementia.’
Other studies back up these findings: Creative activity undertaken daily is linked to positive psychological functioning, while increased engagement with arts events, historical sites, and museums is associated with improved life satisfaction.
In a clinal context, a study on Science Direct shows that participatory art-based activities enhance the well-being and quality of life of patients. The British Journal of General Practice is also looking into the subject: it reports on a study to explore the ways that social prescribing activities may give benefits. The engagement can lead to people learning different ways to relate to other people, becoming open to the possibility of new futures and developing a positive outlook.
Craft’s particular benefits for mental health are backed up by the results of the BBC Great British Creativity Test, published in 2019. Textile crafts such as embroidery, crocheting and knitting have the highest participation rates of all the arts – more than music and painting – according to the government’s Taking Part survey, which shows the potential impact that making could have. Another study showed that participating in sewing as a leisure activity contributed to psychological wellbeing through increasing pride and enjoyment, self-awareness, and 'flow' in younger women.
2. Craft has long been used to help with anxiety
Craft courses have been prescribed to patients since the dawn of occupational therapy in the late 19th century, with basketry used to relieve anxiety and physical ailments in soldiers during the first world war. They continue to be used today, with groups such as Combat Stress, the UK charity for veterans’ mental health, offering pottery classes. Craig Mealing, an ex-soldier from Essex suffering from PTSD, turned pottery into a career after an introductory course through the charity: ‘Working with clay is the ideal distraction for keeping me off the drink,’ he says. ‘It’s hard to throw a pot with a can of Fosters in my hand. I find it relaxing and it helps to reduce my anxiety.’
In general, participants in arts on prescription workshops experience a significant increase in overall wellbeing, through reduction in nerves, stress and anxiety. Though seemingly different, the acts of baking, knitting, and gardening share characteristics that make them well-suited for self-care. These activities all help to improve mood and lower stress – the effort, multi-sensory engagement, repetitive actions and anticipation of satisfaction involved in making something are related to release of neurotransmitters that promote joy and well-being, while also reducing stress hormones.
The activities also have a meditative quality due to their repetition, but also require focus and attention, which can provide healthy distraction from other stresses. Along with their full engagement of the senses, these restorative practices can help us engage in mindfulness, keeping us in the present moment – which benefits our mental health by activating parts of the cortex involved with regulating emotions and dampening activity in the amygdala, which is implicated in processing negative emotions and fear.
3. It brings people together
Respondents to a study by Sinikka Hannele Pöllänen, from the University of Eastern Finland, revealed that textile craft helped them cope with depression and negative feelings, while offering social support and positive relationships. In the UK, craft clubs are emerging that are specifically aimed at boosting mental health, such as Woolly Wellbeing, a club in Liverpool that teaches skills such as knitting and crocheting. ‘It’s really the only place I go,’ said one member who had been suffering from social anxiety and depression. Another noted: ‘Joining the Woolly Wellbeing group has literally saved my life and allowed me to gain a sense of purpose and belonging.’
One paper describes lessons from social prescribing pilots: a ‘knit and natter’ group is one example of a connecting activities provided by community and voluntary groups.
Another study shows how arts-based programming can increase marginalized youth’s participation in the community and that arts-based participatory action research led by migrant youth helps build hope and vision for the future.
4. There are positive links between craft and the cognitive skills of stroke and dementia patients
Anthropologist Stephanie Bunn has been working in hospitals to study how basket-making’s spatial and gestural practices are important for the development of cognitive skills. ‘In the case of stroke recovery, which I’ve been studying at Raigmore Hospital [in Inverness], basketwork can re-establish neural pathways and improve brain plasticity,’ she explains. ‘Basketwork can do the same things for people with dementia, as well as trigger hand memories, which is something that I’ve been working on in a project in Lewis.’
A study of community engagement and dementia risk in the British Medical Journal suggests that community engagement and particularly cultural activities may reduce the risk of dementia onset, while a study in The Gerontologist considers how arts activities may benefit people living with dementia and proposes a model for social return on investment analysis, a form of cost-benefit analysis, that has the potential to capture the value of arts interventions.
Convinced? Here are 7 easy ways to get crafting, if you're not already a maker.
Source: https://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/stories/4-reasons-craft-good-your-mental-health