Depression is a common ailment. A study recently published in the journal Psychological Science found that:
- 41% of young adults experience major depression
- One half suffer from some kind of anxiety disorder
- And nearly one third are dependent on alcohol by the age of 32.
Depression is hardly new, but its occurrence is on the uptick, especially in young people. Millions of Americans every year are prescribed an array of anti-depressant medications, and the numbers are growing. Nearly twice as many people were taking antidepressants in 2005 than in 1996.
In her book Lifting Depression, neuro-scientist Kelly Lambert, PhD argues that what we really need to do to prevent and treat depression is use our hands more for manual labor. According to Lambert, when we cook, garden, knit, sew, build, or repair things with our hands and see tangible results from our efforts, our brains are bathed in feel-good chemicals. She theorizes that our contemporary society and its labor-avoidance mentality (which I wrote about a couple of weeks ago here) promote depression and anxiety disorders.
“In our drive to do less physical work to acquire what we want and need, we’ve lost something vital to our mental well-being—an innate resistance to depression,” she writes.
Researchers have studied the psychological and health impacts of crafting, and the results are encouraging. In one study, women with anorexia reported less preoccupation with their eating disorder after three weeks of knitting. In another, seniors who engaged in a craft had less cognitive decline. However, more research is definitely needed. In the meantime, it couldn’t hurt to heed Kelly Lambert’s advice and pick up some knitting needles. You have little to lose, and you could end up with a warm scarf out of the deal.
You can learn more about Kelly Lambert’s research and book here. Or, you can listen to an interview with her on NPR’s To the Best of our Knowledge here.
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If you liked this post, check out more of my popular posts about the health benefits of creativity:
- Do Real Men Knit?
- Depression-Proof Your Life
- Rev Up Your Creativity
- Sync with the Seasons for Better Health and Productivity
this is great stuff, I couldn’t agree more. My husband has this to say though “what happens if you’re frustrated with your knitting??” ha, ha
That’s so funny. It almost seems like your husband has seen me knit. Sometimes, it takes me half a year to knit a scarf or hat. I go to a monthly craft night with a bunch of my friends (there are some seriously prolific knitters in this group), and they always say: “You’re still working on that same hat?” “Um yeah.” But I’m going to step it up this year, since it’s so great for my mental health and all.
Thanks for posting this! I will try to listen to the NPR segment soon…sounds great. I shared your post with my friends on Facebook. More people need to work with their hands. It does help me.
Thanks Lisa! The NPR interview is definitely worth listening to. The entire hour-long show is about crafts, and it’s all very interesting.
I am so glad I found your blog! I just came to this via a link from SteadyMom and you’ve got a ton of great info. I totally agree with this post – having dealt with anxiety myself, I’ve noticed a huge difference in my mood if I’m out in the yard working or if I’m baking with my three-year-old. I’m determined to learn how to sew and knit and this post gave me yet another reason to get brave and face my sewing machine.
Thanks for stopping in and commenting! I love to sew and knit, but when life is busy, cooking, baking, and gardening just weave into my everyday routine in a more organic way. I think they’re all great activities for our minds and bodies. Good luck with that sewing machine! I love the book Lotta Jansdotter Simple Sewing if you’re looking for some easy projects.
I know that I use knitting as a way to focus and mentally vacation at the same time. Whenever my kids are in the hospital the first thing I pack in my suitcase is a simple knitting project.
Interesting post.
Thanks for commenting! I like how you describe it as focusing and mentally vacationing at the same time. Unfortunately, I think sometimes I focus too little and mentally vacation too much when I knit.
Oh, this is so correct. Knitting is a lifeline for me. The business of my hands frees my mind and I can feel my breathing slow and my shoulders relax… except of course when I am making mistakes and having to undo and resort to throwing my needles at the wall… but perhaps that is confessing a little too much personal detail 🙂 Thanks for this post. I am off to listen to the podcast.
Yes, so funny and true! Hope you enjoyed the podcast.
I totally see merit in this – I started knitting in high school after being released from a teen psych ward for self-mutilation, linked to depression/shock from my dad committing suicide that year (which is still surreal to type, because that was such a “not myself” time of my life, it doesn’t fully feel real even a decade later). It was relaxing, of course, but it did feel really good to do something constructive with my hands, especially after a stint where it seemed like all I did was hurt myself, rip up things out of anger at my dad, break things with my anxiety-induced clumsiness, etc. Basically, knitting was one of those things that helped me feel in control again. Even in a small way, it helped.
I kept knitting through college, long after my depression had gone away, and I think it helped me cope with the stress – I was working 2-3 jobs every year on top of full-time classes – but was also fun, because it was an all-girls liberal arts school and many students (and professors) loved to knit and crochet. We’d even knit and crochet during class!
The biggest impact was when I had postpartum depression at age 22. Knitting wasn’t a magic fix, of course, but combined with better nutrition, vitamins (to get all the essential amino acids that make neurotransmitters/attempt to “rebalance” my body and brain), exercise, prayer/improved sense of spirituality, and getting enough sunlight every day, I found the depression lifting much faster than if I’d used SSRIs or something similar.
Now I’m not knocking Prozac and such per se…but, having been on it and other psychiatric drugs in the past, I can say for me personally they didn’t help. Some of them did nothing, others weren’t worth the minor improvement, and a couple were downright harmful.
Knitting, on the other hand, has never given me unpleasant side effects…or cost me $5+ a pop. 🙂
Thanks so much for sharing your story with us, TH.