Therapeutic Crochet... Yep it seems to work!

[DawnofMarch]

Is it just me or does Crochet and Knitting, and making or doing pretty much anything creative have Therapeutic... erm, what's the word I'm looking for... It's on the tip top of my tongue... Ah Properties!

 

When I crochet, I find that I don't get depressed as often as I would normally. I'm a lil bit Bipolar so I'm used to having stretches of time where I just don't wanna do anything and then all of a sudden I'll be perky and completely excited to do something. Those are the days when the house gets clean or I start cleaning my bedroom, or I do a buttload of laundry. Those are the days I don't yell and get completely upset over really dumb things.

 

My sister says her knitting does the same thing for her. Though it tends to calm her enough that it makes her sleepy, wheras I can stay up all night crocheting if I really want to.

 

I wonder if that's how my mother did it. Raising my sisters and of course myself. I know my Mom didn't stop crocheting till a while after I was born. I know I was a handful.

 

What about you?

[losingmymind2]

Yes crochet can be very soothing. I like to work on a 'mindless' project when my nerves are bad, and something more complex when I'm calm, relaxed and not in pain from my Fibromyalgia.

[beth eathorne]

i call it my stress relief. i have a very stressful job (911 calltaker) and i am allowed to crochet at work during the down times. i always take it to work with me.

[Schmetterling]

Crochet keeps me sane. I'm homebound a good 95% of the time and I'd go nuts w/o this.

[JReyna]

Wow...i would love to crochet at work!!!!!1 Crochet helps me relax. It's funny, because i usually crochet at night infront of the TV, and my husband will say "hey, do you want to start winding down and get ready for bed?" hahahaha i always have to remind him that crocheting is my wind down time.

[tryptikangel]

Crocheting keeps me calm and less focused on the things that may otherwise bother me. When I feel anxious or upset, I pick up a project and start working on that and it takes me to a better, happier place. It's when I put down the project that I have a problem! lol

[ZoeZoesmom]

Yes, crochet is my therapy. I can honestly say I am a better person because "I crochet". Keeps me focused and diffuses my emotions.

[eyrthmother1]

its definitely my therapy, and even professional therapist are finding the benefits of creativity. Journaling, drawing are the more standardly used 1 (really don't need to learn the skill and is faster), but along same lines. My joke is it keeps me from killing all the "stoopid folks im surrounded by"

 

Sandy

[Yarnluver]

I had read that knitting (and I suppose crochet too) raises the levels of some good neurotransmitters. Just now I did a search and found an article that suggests repetitive motion activities such as knitting and hand-sewing to increase endorphin levels (again, I'm sure that would include crochet as well) and during that search I also so the results of a study which said endorphins lower stress.

 

Personally, I think of crochet as a mind-saver. I was very depressed last March when I saw a post (in a Yahoo group that I'm a member of) looking for people willing to crochet or knit little blankets for a cat shelter. I'd been trying to get back to crochet for months but after unsuccessfully attempting to make a bag with a magazine pattern I lost what little motivation I'd had, however, I felt a small blanket was something I could undertake. I found that I'd forgotten almost everything but the lady that was making the blankets directed me to Youtube.com and I quickly caught up and while making that first little blankie I noticed my depression evaporated and that's how I got "hooked" . I began having a reason to get up each day and the more I crocheted the better I felt.

 

Crochet also helped me during a very stressful stay at my mother's during May and June, a couple of months before her passing, and again during the 8 days just before when we knew there was no hope. I crocheted each night before going to bed and usually during the day while I sat in her room and I was much calmer than my two sisters. After she died I was so sad I just couldn't crochet for a while and I feared I'd lost my motivation once again, however, I'd promised some afghan squares to another member here so I pushed myself to work on them and that had the "side effect" of helping me deal with the grieving much better by keeping my mind from obsessing about my loss. Soon I really got my motivation back and have been crocheting up a storm since. I still have days in which I get up feeling "blah" but crochet always helps me feel better and whenever I finish a project I feel great satisfaction in having accomplished something.

[rshseaeagle]

Count me in!!!!! Crochet is my Therapy!!!!!! :manyheart. If I couldn't sit down at night and crochet I would totally loose it.

 

Hubby has found me sound asleep with hook in hand several times over the past 6 weeks and has gently awakened me to tell me to lay down and go to sleep. .

 

I tell everyone that my crocheting is my therapy. At the end of the day I go up to bed and fix my pillows and sit and crochet. If I am not too tired it is a more complicated pattern, if I am have a serious brain dead, senior moment it is a simple dishcloth or something mind numbing. .

 

For me it is a way to completely concentrate on something productive and a way to forget my troubles and relieve any traces of sadness or depression. We lost my FIL after a 6 week battle with heart failure 12/7 and if I couldn't have crocheted, I can't imagine where I would be right now.

 

When my older boys (33 and 23) asked what I wanted for Christmas I told them crochet patterns and they both just laughed. But mom they are like $2.00. I said that's ok. They are priceless to me. .

 

Count me in the following clubs, I am a yarn and pattern addict and I am proud of it. I use crocheting as therapy and have saved thousands on therapy bills and have really made the mental health professionals angry that they can't get my money because I have found the perfect therapy sessions!

 

May God Bless all of us and provide yarn and patterns for our mental health and well being (not to mention our families health and well being)

 

TLOL,

Toni

[Craw]

Crochet is definitely therapeutic for me! I may have found the crochet bug on my own but it was YOU guys that made me a yarnaholic and pattern hoarder! You have made me what I am today and I thank you.

[CLLinda]

When I was handing over a bunch of hats that I had made, the woman receiving them for the organization just asked me how I get so much done. I said that it is my thing that keeps my sanity in a house of teenagers. She was very grateful for the donations.

 

I have to crochet at least an hour a day or I am just one crabby person.

 

Crochet gives you something to focus on, to relax with, and you produce something that others can enjoy.

 

Crochet is just wonderful.

 

[Cliffnote]

Crocheting for me is the same. It keeps me focused, calms me down and relieves my stress. I take it everywhere with me. And when I finish a project, it makes me feel like I accomplished something, which is a good feeling.

[PBLKNP]

i call it my stress relief. i have a very stressful job (911 calltaker) and i am allowed to crochet at work during the down times. i always take it to work with me.

 

I can see where you'd need stress relief! My sister was a dispatcher for years. I can remember her stories. The best was the lady who kept calling 911 to complain that someone was parked in front of her house. No, he wasn't stalking, she was just ****** off that someone other than herself had taken the parking spot! My sister kept trying to explain that it was, after all, a public street...

 

Anyway, as for stress relief, I definitely find crocheting relaxing. I find if I don't get a chance to have my quiet time crocheting in the morning with my coffee that I'm "off" for the entire day.

[KER828]

I too love to crochet or S c r a pbook to relieve stress. If the stress is too much I have to do some baking first then I can calm down enough to do the crafting - but that is NOT very often anymore. Mostly the stress is the pace of life sometimes.

[smokeyp81]

I find both knitting and crocheting as a great stress releiver too! I know that after a long stressful day...it's a joy to come home and work on my crocheting! I can solve a lot of problems when I'm crocheting!

[sshjesse]

I agree w/every one here. It like to crochet something mindless when I'm stressed and more complex when my mind is clear. I too crochet at night infront of the TV to wind down

Doni

[threadlover]

Yup. It's my therapy. I need to be in threapy right now but I can't seem to settle on anything I want to do. There are just to many things I would like to start.

 

Marcia

[HorrorRetro]

Yes, I do find yarn arts to be therapeutic. I'm still attempting to learn crochet, so I'm at the point where it's more frustrating than relaxing , but I'm sure that'll rectify itself when I get better at it. I was the same way with knitting, and once I got better at knitting, I found it to be very relaxing.

 

Gina

[forestergirl]

Definitely, I've always had stress issues and regularly get headaches from it. Crochet helps me wind down at least a little bit and is probably saving me from health issues down the road. The best part is that it's productive too, since it drives me up the wall to be doing something that isn't practical or to be idle. DH has his skiing and I have my crochet.

[Momcrochets]

Definitely. I have a hook or a book in my hand basically every night. Sometimes both--but not at the same time...just finish the novel first. I have take along thread projects (fit in my purse more easily) and sometimes I'm lucky enough to crochet mid-day. It's definitely a stress-reliever. I've also heard stories/studies about the endorphins...almost as good as chocolate in that regard...and cheaper than a therapist!

 

I've heard stories of people in the medical profession(dr.'s med students) who crochet not only for the therepeutic benefits, but also to keep their fingers nimble! How awesome is that.

[HomekeepingGran]

Knitting has been prescribed by doctors for stress for many years. Crochet would work the same. The repetitive hand motion mentioned earlier is just soothing. I keep either knitting or crochet going pretty much all the time!