Crochet/Craft to Break the Cycle of Rumination and Reduce Depression Symptoms

An excerpt from Crochet Saved My Life with references to Old Order Amish, Little House on the Prairie, and female depression

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Before broadening out into exploring all aspects of the complex relationship between art and mental health, I spent more than a decade becoming an excerpt in the niche of crochet as therapy. I started from lived experience, did a lot of research, and interviewed thousands of people on the topic. I continue to do this work to some degree, and I like to re-share related material from the archives sometimes because I believe so deeply in the power of this work.

So, here’s an excerpt from my book Crochet Saved My Life.

For context, this excerpt below follows a section in the book on what mindfulness practice is and how to use crochet / craft to practice mindfulness. Now we move into the section called “Breaking the Cycle of Rumination,” which was one of my biggest challenges when first learning to heal my own depression.

Whether or not you “buy into” the act of mindfulness, it is difficult to disagree with the fact that ruminating on your problems makes them seem larger and more difficult to deal with than they often really are. There are times, particularly when dealing with difficult bouts of depression, when you need to just find relief from the ever-present thoughts that are circulating in your head. And crochet can provide that important distraction, giving you a focused activity to take your mind off of the pain. In fact, movement of any kind can help to interrupt the cycle of rumination, which leads to healthier options for dealing with issues in your life including things that are exacerbating your depression. 

A June 2010 Whole Living article titled “DIY Therapy: How Handiwork Can Treat Depression” cites research by Yale University psychologist and author Susan Nolen-Hoeksema who specifically looked at the cycle of rumination in female depression. Hoeksema is quoted as saying: "We've found that doing a mentally absorbing task interrupts ruminations long enough for them to subside, and your thinking becomes more clear and less negative … Then when you go back to your concerns, they seem less overwhelming and you're better able to see some action you could take to overcome them."

People who are dealing with mild forms of depression, or who have depression that’s already being treated by medication and / or therapy may still find that they have cycling thoughts. Crochet is a motion-based activity that can help stop those thoughts in their tracks, re-focus them and put at least a temporary end to that oh-so-frustrating thought cycle. Stopping the cycle of rumination can be, at the very least, a source of reprieve from the pain of depression. At best, it may actually prevent the depression from continuing.

A 2005 APA article also referencing Hoeksema’s work explains that the psychologist completed multiple studies that draw a distinct link between rumination and depression. She looked at groups like the Bay Area residents who lived through the 1989 earthquake and adults of various ages who lost family members to terminal illness. Her studies found that people in these groups who ruminated on their problems were significantly more likely to experience both depression and Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD). The APA article goes on to say: “In addition, a community survey Nolen-Hoeksema conducted on 1,300 adults, ages 25 to 75, backed those results. It found that ruminators develop major depression four times as often as nonruminators: 20 percent versus 5 percent. (The results were significant even for ruminators who weren't depressed at baseline.)”

Put more simply, Hoeksema’s research shows that if you ruminate on your problems then you are more likely to suffer from depression. One can then conclude that finding a way to break the cycle of rumination, through keeping-busy activities such as crochet perhaps, can help curb depressive tendencies. In fact, Hoeksema went on to do research with Stanford University’s Sonja Lyubomirsky that concluded that although it is difficult to get ruminators to stop ruminating on their problems, it is possible to distract them for a short period of time. Furthermore, once distracted, the ruminator is less likely to recall negative events and less likely to focus on problems. So yes, it may sound silly when I say that crochet can help you through depression but this research suggests that if you can set aside how silly you feel for a minute and immerse yourself in the craft then you may be able to stop ruminating on your problems and you will be less likely to be overcome by them even once you stop the actions of the craft.

The Whole Living article also talks about other professionals who agree with Hoeksema’s findings. For example, it references Kelly Lambert, author and psychology department chair at Randolph-Macon College. Lambert may have a strong background in formal psychology but it was through reading fiction that she formed some strong opinions about the depression-alleviating benefits of crafting and completing domestic chores. According to the article, Lambert was reading “Little House on the Prairie” to her child when she began to notice just how much activity Ma Ingalls was required to do every day in order to keep her family going. From collecting rainwater for baths to sewing all of the family’s clothing, Ma didn’t get a moment of rest. That sounds tough to most of us in modern society but Lambert argues that perhaps all of that daily physical work might have been rewarding and even pleasurable for Ma. Lambert believes that we have an innate need to do hands-on work that produces tangible results and that this could actually be an antidote to many forms of depression.

Research may back up what Lambert is saying. The Whole Living article notes that “multigenerational surveys have shown that people born later in the 20th century, after the dawn of modern conveniences, suffer more bouts of depression than those born before World War II.” Additionally, it cites research showing that Old Order Amish people have lower depression rates than the rest of society in modern times and of course those are people who are doing the same type of hands-on housework and crafting that Ma Ingalls was doing.

Undoubtedly there can be many, many explanations for the differences in depression rates other than the amount of hands-on housework being done by those surveyed. For example, maybe the Old Order Amish deal with just as much depression but don’t express it in the same way that we do, particularly to the outside world; maybe it’s a difference in cultural understanding and not a difference in their depression rates. But Lambert has done a variety of different types of research into this topic and stands by her theories and I can see how they hold some water.

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My father (who dealt with undiagnosed depression throughout his life) often says that you “just need to get your mind off of it” when things are bad. He fully acknowledges how impossible that sometimes seems and he can’t always make himself do it but he will say it anyway because he has found it to be more or less true over the years. Early nineteenth century occupational therapist (and weaver) Mary E. Black once described the purpose of her work as literally to “keep people occupied” (according to author Erin Morton). And my own psychologist would also frequently suggest a variety of activities just to get the mind to stop that “cycle of rumination”. So it seems that people from all walks of life and different backgrounds and approaches to dealing with depression often agree that there is a mental health benefit to doing something physical that gets the mind out of its rut for a moment or two at a time.

In what ways have hands-on arts and crafts helped you break the cycle of rumination? What challenges still arise that limit the way that it helps you?

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