Knitting could actually help reduce anxiety, depression and dementia!
| Updated: Mar 16, 2018, 12:02 IST
A new report has suggested that knitting can help reduce not just depression and anxiety but it could also help distract from chronic pain. The findings, published by initiative, Knit for Peace offers an extensive review of previous studies into the physical and mental health benefits of knitting. Knit for Peace, which has a network of 15,000 knitters in the UK who 'knit for those in need', also conducted a survey of 1,000 of its members about their experiences.
“There is an enormous amount of research showing that knitting has physical and mental health benefits, that it slows the onset of dementia, combats depression and distracts from chronic pain. It is an activity that can be continued into extreme old age,” the report revealed. “It is a sociable activity that helps overcome isolation and loneliness, too often a feature of old age. It is a skill that can continue when sight and strength are diminished,” the report read. Research from 2007 at Harvard Medical School’s Mind and Body Institute also found that knitting induces the body’s natural relaxation response and lowers the heart rate by an average of 11 beats per minute. Because of this, it found blood pressure drops when knitting.
What’s more, a 2012 study from the Mayo Clinic examined the effects of activities including knitting, quilting and playing games in 1,321 older people, nearly 200 of whom had a mild cognitive impairment and were in the intermediate stage between normal ageing and dementia. The researchers found that those who engaged in crafting, computer activities, knitting and reading books were 30-50% less likely to have mild cognitive impairment than those who did not.
“There is an enormous amount of research showing that knitting has physical and mental health benefits, that it slows the onset of dementia, combats depression and distracts from chronic pain. It is an activity that can be continued into extreme old age,” the report revealed. “It is a sociable activity that helps overcome isolation and loneliness, too often a feature of old age. It is a skill that can continue when sight and strength are diminished,” the report read. Research from 2007 at Harvard Medical School’s Mind and Body Institute also found that knitting induces the body’s natural relaxation response and lowers the heart rate by an average of 11 beats per minute. Because of this, it found blood pressure drops when knitting.
What’s more, a 2012 study from the Mayo Clinic examined the effects of activities including knitting, quilting and playing games in 1,321 older people, nearly 200 of whom had a mild cognitive impairment and were in the intermediate stage between normal ageing and dementia. The researchers found that those who engaged in crafting, computer activities, knitting and reading books were 30-50% less likely to have mild cognitive impairment than those who did not.