Why crafting is good for your brain, according to science

Kerstin Amezcua started to crochet after returning from an Army deployment as a doctor in Kuwait.

“I was not in a good place coming back,” said Amezcua, 35, who returned to the United States about five years ago. “All of my previous coping mechanisms just stopped functioning.”

Her psychiatrist suggested she find a hobby to help her anxiety. A friend taught her to crochet, which she said gave her something to do with her hands and became an outlet when she felt like she was spiraling.

“I am pretty convinced that it saved my life,” Amezcua said.

Crafting — which includes activities such as knitting, pottery, whittling and jewelry-making — attracts some people because of the mental health benefits of a soothing, repetitive motion. A large survey of knitters published in the The British Journal of Occupational Therapy in 2013 found a strong association between frequent knitting and feeling “calm and happy.”

Yonas Geda, a neurologist at Barrow Neurological Institute, a surgical and research center in Arizona, said craft activities are an “anchoring exercise,” meaning something that can steady a person who is feeling distress or anxiety.

In times of stress, he said, it can be helpful to be grounded in the present moment, and one way to do that is to focus on creating something with your hands. He used the analogy of a boat anchoring near a port in a storm.

“You cannot stop the storm,” said Geda, who was not involved in the 2013 study, “but you can drop your anchor, and then you can move with the storm, and you survive.”

Craft and cognition

While some people might pick up crafts to lift their mood, Geda said crafting is also associated with benefits for short-term memory.

In a study published in 2019 in the journal Neurology, Geda and his colleagues followed 2,000 people 70 and older for five years, asking about their habits and administering cognitive assessments. Controlling for factors like age, gender and education, people who engaged in craft activities later in life had a 42 percent lower risk of developing mild cognitive impairment compared with those who didn’t, Geda said.

Socializing, exercise and completing puzzles like crosswords were also associated with reduced risk, but the quantity and quality of the activities mattered. People who did a craft activity five or six times a week saw more of a benefit than those who did a craft once or twice a week.

Geda cautioned that this data shows an association, not a cause, and it’s possible that healthier people are more likely to take up a craft.

Kristine Kelly, a retired professor of psychology at Western Illinois University who was not involved in the 2019 study, said crafts engage various parts of the brain, which may be beneficial for cognition. Knitting, for example, requires planning, short-term memory, visual processing and finger dexterity.

“By using your entire brain, you are building a very dense neural network,” Kelly said, explaining that this cognitive reserve is protective for brain health throughout life, especially as we age.

Crafting as therapy

Danielle Romanetti had learned to knit from her grandmother as a child, and she picked it back up as a young adult as a stress-relief technique when she began to have panic attacks.

“The repetitive motion is definitely helpful in calming or soothing the brain,” said Romanetti, who owns Fibre Space, a yarn store in Alexandria. She added that some customers have told her that their therapists have suggested crafting.

Her store has a weekly “Stitch in Space” night for crafters, some of whom say they feel like they get mental health benefits from the gathering.

“I’m a very anxious person,” said attendee Katie Thomas, 30, who was knitting a sky-blue vest at a recent event. “It’s nice to have something to do with my hands when I’m in a situation where I’m not particularly comfortable. It’s very meditative.”

Another attendee, Amara Leonard, 29, was crocheting a blue-and-green octopus.

“I feel like there have been so many things that were out of my control,” Leonard said. “Being able to work on projects that got my mind off all the stressors that were in my life … it really helped me.”

Jasper Harvey, 26, was there crocheting a jewelry holder.

“The repetitiveness is soothing,” Harvey said. “I like the precision of it.”

Some of the younger knitters and crocheters at the event said they have started carrying an “analogue bag” with books and craft projects to keep them off their phones.

“I literally do not go on my phone at night anymore. I’m just knitting,” said Jordan Rizzo, 23. “I had to take a break from social media for a little bit because it was just all really heavy.”

Kelly, the retired professor, said that part of the reason crafting is helpful for some people who struggle with their mental health is that it helps keep them off a screen.

“Scrolling is like junk food for the brain,” Kelly said. “Crafting rejects that instant gratification.”

She added that motions like those required by quilting or woodworking can be deeply soothing.

“Rocking a baby sends the signal they’re safe. Smooth, rhythmic, predictable movements signal safety and calm,” Kelly said.

It also calms your “fight or flight” response and lowers the stress hormone cortisol, Kelly said.

Another aspect of hands-on creativity is that working toward something feels good. It’s not just the motion for it’s own sake, there’s a project and (hopefully, eventually) an end result.

“I did have a crochet project I was working on for an entire year one time,” said Harvey, explaining that when he completed it at a stitching circle, the room applauded.

Elise Bromann Bukhave, an associate professor of social science at University College Absalon in Denmark, has been looking closely at the research on the mental health benefits of crafting.

“The evidence is accumulating,” said Bukhave, who said she loves knitting, crochet and woodworking.

She also said more rigorous research is needed to understand how they improve mental health.

How to try it

Crafting can encompass a wide range of activities, including cooking more intentionally or working on projects around the house. The idea is to find something challenging and engaging that requires both your hands and your brain.

Girija Kaimal, professor and chair of the Creative Arts Therapies Department at Drexel University, said she has a neighbor whom she regularly sees fixing cars.

“That is his craft and creative practice, and hours can go by as he flips an old car and brings it back to life,” Kaimal said. “It does not have to be what we think of as usual hobbies.”

Choose something hard, but not too hard

Challenging yourself is key, but if it’s too difficult, you might give up before seeing the benefit. The goal is to find a state of flow, meaning focusing on a task so other things melt away.

“There’s this sweet spot, this optimal cognitive load,” Kelly said. “It can’t be too challenging or you get frustrated, but it can’t be too easy or it’s boring.”

Find people to craft with

Some of the benefit of crafting comes from the communal aspect of it, particularly for people struggling with social anxiety. Having something to do with your hands can make a social event like a craft night feel more approachable.

Strive for learning, not perfection

“The goal is not a masterpiece,” said Kelly.

If you’re starting to knit, for instance, she advises against trying to make a sweater.

“You can knit a wonky square. It doesn’t matter if it’s crooked or has a bunch of holes in it,” she said. “It’s just getting that movement. You can unravel it when you’re done.”

Mistakes aren’t catastrophes in crafting, they’re just problems to solve. Kelly Lambert, a neuroscientist at the University of Richmond, said that trying and failing at something is particularly beneficial for the brain.

“If it’s always working, and it’s the same potholder that you’re crocheting every time, the benefits aren’t going to be as meaningful,” Lambert said.

Amezcua, the former Army doctor, has recently been knitting a cardigan covered in a pattern that looks like cicadas. She made one for a family member and liked it so much that she decided to knit one for herself.

“Even though the process is the thing that for me is the most enjoyable,” Amezcua said, “it’s really fun that you get something at the end.”