> [!NOTE]+ Meta > Author:: Crafts Council UK > Reference:: https://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/stories/4-reasons-craft-good-your-mental-health > Date:: 2018 > Tags:: #warp > WeftLinks:: [[Psychological value of craft]] > Claim:: [[Claim - Craft improves well-being]] > [!SUMMARY] Summary > Craft activities can improve mental health by reducing anxiety, depression, and loneliness. ### Highlights Craft’s particular benefits for mental health are backed up by [the results of the BBC Great British Creativity Test](https://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/stories/craft-can-reduce-stress-new-bbc-survey-reveals), published in 2019. Textile crafts such as embroidery, crocheting and knitting have [the highest participation rates of all the arts](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/740256/April_2018_Arts_Focus_report_revised.pdf) – more than music and painting – according to the government’s Taking Part survey, which shows the potential impact that making could have. Another study showed that participating in sewing as a leisure activity contributed to psychological wellbeing through increasing pride and enjoyment, self-awareness, and 'flow' in younger women. [Combat Stress, the UK charity for veterans’ mental health](https://www.combatstress.org.uk), offering pottery classes. [Craig Mealing](https://www.bigissue.com/latest/ptsd-i-turned-life-around-potters-wheel/), an ex-soldier from Essex suffering from PTSD, turned pottery into a career after an introductory course through the charity Another noted: ‘[Joining the Woolly Wellbeing group has literally saved my life and allowed me to gain a sense of purpose and belonging](https://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/articles/woolly-wellbeing).’ Anthropologist Stephanie Bunn has been working in hospitals to study how basket-making’s spatial and gestural practices are important for the development of cognitive skills. ‘In the case of stroke recovery, which I’ve been studying at Raigmore Hospital [in Inverness], basketwork can re-establish neural pathways and improve brain plasticity,’ she explains.