Knitting is an activity that has been around for centuries, but it has recently gained attention for its potential to improve mental health. A neuropsychiatric study found that participating in activities such as knitting could reduce the likelihood of developing mild cognitive impairment by 30 to 50 percent for older people. Knitting is especially good for this, as it requires you to use many parts of your brain at the same time. Recent research shows that fabric has a measurable effect in calming anxiety and relieving stress, and an international survey revealed a strong connection between fabric and feelings of calm and happiness. In addition to the activity itself, many weavers find benefits in the social nature of the fabric, whether they belong to a local fabric group or an online community.
In a clinical setting, a study of a group of people who have eating disorders showed that tissue had a significant effect on reducing anxiety and calming obsessive thoughts or worries. Crafts can help those suffering from anxiety, depression or chronic pain, experts say. It can also relieve stress, increase happiness, and protect the brain from damage caused by aging. Showing something you've woven to someone who has no idea how you did it is like showing off some kind of new magic trick. Knitting is an inexpensive and creative hobby that can give people something to focus their mind on and in a peculiar rarity, beginners who knit create wool neurons in their hands while forging new neural pathways in their brains.
Such success has shown that hundreds of meetings have been held across the country, in regional cities, remote indigenous communities, libraries, galleries, schools, hospitals and community centers. According to the Mayo Clinic, older adults who engage in crafts (including weaving) are 30 to 50% less likely to have “mild cognitive impairment” than those who don't. The prison project reminded me of a project that a friend from Albuquerque has been working on to get yarn for women in prison to have for knitting or crocheting. In fact, knitting and crocheting have even been seen to help people with anxiety associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder and eating disorders. The hope is that the calm and relaxation associated with tissue will allow the patient to relax enough to fall asleep. The word Jaarn has become a cult word in Afrikaans culture to describe all the different fibers that can be used in knitting, crocheting and weaving.
But research shows that weaving and crafting with threads, like other meditative activities, can “activate areas of the brain that are good at generating a sense of calm (and contribute to) better emotional processing and better decision-making. When it comes to mental health, knitting and crocheting are a great pastime for those suffering from depression and especially anxiety.
