Painting, woodworking, writing: Whatever you turn to creatively, it could equal or exceed work in terms of maintaining mental health, new research shows. Photo by Adobe Stock/HealthDay News
Painting, woodworking, writing: Whatever you turn to creatively, it could equal or exceed work in terms of maintaining mental health, new research shows.
“Crafting and other artistic activities showed a meaningful effect in predicting people’s sense that their life is worthwhile,” said study lead author Dr. Helen Keyes, of Anglia Ruskin University in Britain.
“Indeed, the impact of crafting was bigger than the impact of being in employment,” she added. “Not only does crafting give us a sense of achievement, it is also a meaningful route to self-expression. This is not always the case with employment.”
The new study was published Friday in the journal Frontiers in Public Health. It involved almost 7,200 participants in the annual Taking Part survey, conducted by Britain’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Folks were asked about their level of participation in cultural, digital and sporting activities.
People were also queried about their levels of loneliness and “sensations of happiness, anxiety and life satisfaction, and to give their impression of whether life is worthwhile,” according to a journal news release.
More than a third (37.4%) of respondents said they’d been involved in some kind of arts or crafts activity over the past month.
People who…
