2019-07-01_Simply_Knitting

W

henI’mnotyarn-wrangling,

I’ma clinicalpsychologist

intheNHS,treatingpeople

whohaveallsortsofmentalhealth

problems.Fromtimetotimea client

willhappentomentionthattheyknit

orcrochetandwill,almostalways,

describethebenefitsit hasbrought

them– distractionfromemotional

pain,creativity,grounding,social

connectionswithotherknitterseither

onlineorinperson,anda senseof

achievementasnewskillsaremastered.

Stress-freetherapy

OfcourseI nevertellthemthatI’malsoa

knitter,butI can’thelpsilentlycheerthem

onas theytellmetheirstory.Andwhilst

noamountof yarnarywillmagicallycure

schizophreniaor bulimiaor obsessive-

compulsivedisorder,there’sa growingbodyof

evidencesupportingthesymptom-reducing

benefitsof knittingforpeoplewithproblems

Relaxingandsoothing–

knittingismorethanjusta

hobbytomostofus

rangingfromdepressionto early-stage

dementiato chronicpain.Andknittingis one

therapywhereyoudon’thaveto worryabout

theside-eects,otherthanthefactthatit’s

rathersedentary.(Eventhatproblemcanbe

overcomebyshamelessweirdoslikemewho

havenoqualmsaboutwalkingroundthe

villageworkingona sock-in-progress.)

Stayinggrounded

It’snotsurprisingthatknittingis therapeutic,

becauseit ticksa wholespreadsheet-loadof

beneficialboxes.Fora start,it’sgrounding

which- in caseyou’venotcomeacrossthe

term- meansit bringsyoubackto thehere

andnowwhenyouranxietyis tryingto carry

youoelsewhere.Thisis incrediblyhelpfulfor

folkbattlingtraumaor panic,butis alsopretty

blimmin’usefulforanyonecaughtupin the

stressof everydaylife.It’sanidealgrounding

activitybecausewhilstit doesn’tneedto betoo

mentallydemanding(unlessyou’rerecreating

theMonaLisain intarsia,in whichcaseyou

FIVE PERFECT

PLACESTOKNIT

1 Onthetrain...unlessyou’rethetrain

driver.

2 Besidewater,keepinghalfaneyeoutfor

interestingwildlife.

3 Doctor'swaitingroom.

4 Inthepub.

5 Whilstwalkinginthecountryside(now

there’sa skill!).

H

Mindful and mood-boosting, Dr Phil Saul

considers the clinical benefits of knitting

to teach knitting

to every child?

Is i time...

have only yourself to blame) it does enlist

your attention and most of your senses. Then

there is also the reassuring, gentle click-click

sound of the needles, the smell of the yarn, the

sight of the emerging fabric, and the feel of the

needles in your hands. (But let’s omit the sense

of taste here, because licking your yarn would

be just way too odd.)

Learn to grow

There’s also the mood-enhancing feeling

of achievement that comes from creating

something beautiful, and doing so using only

spun sheep-flu and a couple of pointy sticks.

And do you remember how you felt the last

time you mastered a new technique? We all

need to learn and grow, and knitting provides

endless opportunities to do so because there’s

always more to learn. The mental demands

of knitting can be as great or as minimal as

you wish: in the US, there’s a professor who

teaches complex mathematical phenomena

via knitting, but if you’re not in the mood for

that, then there’s absolutely nothing wrong

with banging out a garter stitch scarf. In short,

there are so many benefits of knitting beside

the fact that it, y’know, creates clothes, that I

sometimes wonder why it isn’t taught to every

primary school child in the country.

Dr Phil Saul is a knitter, designer,

clinical psychologist and writer of

http://www.thetwistedyarn.com blog.

© Photogrpahy: Marija Babic / EyeEm / Getty Images

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