The Healing Power of Creativity: Part Three


Why does doing something creative, with your hands, help you cope? Is it simply the distraction of the activity? Is it the feeling of being productive? Is it the planning and processing of all of the steps required to carry out the projects? Is it the act of throwing yourself into a creative activity that so engulfs you that you completely forget, for awhile, about your depression? Is it the feeling of being useful?

 Well guess what? It is ALL of those things! That's right! Working with your hands, especially if you enjoy it, is a creative activity packed full of benefits!

Have you heard the expression 'busy hands, happy heart'? It is a well-researched truth. Read the following:

 According to Robert Reiner, PhD, a New York University psychologist and the study's author, the findings prove what crafters already know: crafts de-stress. 


he says. "Crafts make you concentrate and focus on the here and now and distract you from everyday pressures and problems. They're stress-busters in the same way that meditation, deep breathing, visual imagery, and watching fish are."

 Harvard University's world-renowned mind/body expert, Herbert Benson, MD, says that repetitive and rhythmic crafts such as knitting may even evoke what he calls the relaxation response-a feeling of bodily and mental calm that's been scientifically proven to enhance health and reduce the risk of heart disease, anxiety, and depression. "You can induce the relaxation response through any type of repetition, whether it's repeating a word, prayer, or action, such as knitting or sewing," he notes.

Are you convinced yet about the healing power of creativity? Mental illness makes life tough. Medication is not enough. Lifestyle changes can help. Is it time you added a creative passtime to your 'surviving depression toolkit'?

 WHAT ABOUT YOU? How are you feeling today? Is there a creative passtime that could become a 'stress buster' for you? It's all up to you. There are choices. Have fun figuring this out.

 Don't give up! There is hope for depression.




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