Painting, woodworking, writing: any creative activity can be just as effective, or even better, than work when it comes to maintaining your mental health, according to a new study. Photo: Adobe Stock/HealthDay News
Creative activities, whether that be painting, woodworking, writing or anything else, may be just as effective, or even better, than work when it comes to maintaining your mental health, new research suggests.
“Crafts and other artistic activities showed a significant effect in predicting people's sense that life is worth living,” said lead study author Dr Helen Keyes of Anglia Ruskin University in the UK.
“In fact, the impact of crafts was greater than the impact of employment,” she added. “Crafts not only provide a sense of accomplishment, but also a meaningful outlet for self-expression, which is not always the case with employment.”
The new study was published Friday in the journal Frontiers in Public Health and involved around 7,200 participants in the “Taking Part” survey, which is run annually by the UK Department of Culture, Media and Sport.
People were asked about their level of participation in cultural, digital and sporting activities.
Participants were also asked about their levels of loneliness, as well as “their feelings of happiness, anxiety, life satisfaction, and their impression of whether life is worth living,” according to a journal news release.
More than one-third of respondents (37.4%) said they had participated in some kind of arts and crafts activity in the past month.
The researchers found that people who engaged in creative activities scored higher on measures of happiness, life satisfaction, and a sense that life was worth living compared to people who weren't involved in arts and crafts.
“The effects on happiness were present even after controlling for factors such as employment status and poverty level,” Keys said in a journal news release. “Crafts appear to have a positive impact on happiness above and beyond other aspects of life.”
Perhaps because many arts and crafts are done alone, involvement does not seem to affect people's levels of loneliness.
This study was designed only to show association and could not prove causation.
In her own life, Keyes said she is a big proponent of DIY projects such as painting and decorating.
“It's certainly very satisfying to see the results of your work coming together,” she said. “It feels great to be able to focus on one task and use your mind creatively.”
Keys said policymakers may want to take the new findings into account.
“Governments and national health services might consider funding and promoting craft activities, or socially prescribing such activities to at-risk populations, as part of their health and mental health promotion and prevention efforts,” she said.
More Information
Find out more about the benefits of being creative from the American Psychiatric Association.
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