So, for the past couple of months, there have been a lot of articles about using knitting as a form of therapy. I'm really glad that this is getting the notice that it deserves.
There are all sorts of different theories about why this is and how exactly it's helping your brain, and I think it's worth a look into all of them.
Some say it's the repetitive motion that helps soothe the brain. Much like sitting in a rocking chair would. While I think that might have some merit, I don't think that by itself could be it. I mean, how many assembly line workers think that their job is peaceful? The same motion, over and over again, at some point will get boring. That's why we knitters have so many projects going at once. (Example: side bar to right of all the projects I have going on right now.) I, personally, don't find boring to be very soothing. Something simple like a garter stitch scarf can be nice, even meditative for a while, but then it just starts to drag, and then you don't want to work on it any more, so you start something else, then you go back and look at that scarf and just start to feel the guilt of never having finished it.
So for that theory, I say yes for the short term, but over time, not so much. A knitter needs some sort of mental challenge. Throw some cables or lace in there!
This gets me to why I think knitting really helps in terms of dealing with anxiety, and even depression. It's the having to focus on something other than what is going through your mind that is causing those feelings. A simple knit stitch isn't going to cut it! Once you've been knitting for a while, you can do them without even looking down. That lets your mind wonder back into those thoughts. I've had times that I've been working on my Featherweight sweater, which is just a mind numbing amount of stockinette stitch, and the thoughts just start rolling in.
I know that the main cause of my depression and anxiety is me, myself and I. It's my brain going off on tangents thinking about things I've screwed up in the past, or things I could possibly screw up in the future. These are the times I need to take myself away from my brain. I need to focus on something else. I do tend to spend a lot of that time playing MMORPG's, but while that does help, again, not for the long term.
When I take that energy that I use to hurt myself, and focus it into this thing that will be a beautiful thing that I can have forever, that is where the peace comes from. No guilt over wasted time or effort, just a thing to look at and say 'I made this!'.
Just my two cents on the matter. If' you have any other thoughts on the matter, I'd love to hear them!
