Crocheting Through an Anxiety Spike

I had what I call a Level 4 Anxiety Spike the other day.

I’m not 100% surprised in all honesty. Due to numerous factors out of our control, I’ve been undergoing a lot of burnout lately and we’re in the middle of trying to get that burnout recovery in control again. Some days it goes better than others. A few rough days in a row and I hit what I call Level 4 Anxiety Symptoms with Level 5 being the highest I rate symptoms at. It’s been quite some time since I hit Level 4, so this was a wake-up call to me that I needed to really take care of myself.

First, I cleared off everything non-essential from my schedule for the next day, but I also knew I needed to redirect that high level anxiety (which was exacerbated by the fact I had a motion sensitive headache that was likely a result of weather shifts and/or my anxiety). Whatever I did needed something that could redirect that anxious energy, but it couldn’t require too much focus as anxiety and headaches really mess with your ability to focus.

Crochet came to the rescue.

I’ve written about how I’ve started to learn to crochet, and I realized my fingers had the urge to play with yarn while I was full of anxious energy, and if that’s the urge my anxiety has, that’s a pretty safe one to have. It’s also an urge that can be easily accommodated. I had to approach it carefully since my focus levels between the anxiety and the headache wouldn’t let me learn new techniques, but anything that tapped into the repetitive and soothing motion of stitching with techniques I already knew should be good to try.

I pulled our some of the beginner’s yarn I’m familiar with (no new weird types when focus is an issue, I needed the familiar) and a pattern that was new to me but only required three stitch types that I knew very well by now. 

It was exactly what I needed. I didn’t have to move too much or focus on too much reading wise and the repetitive motion of the stitches combined with needing some focus (but not too much) on counting was the perfect balance I needed to give that anxiety a redirection into a positive outlet. I crocheted a lot that day, and my fingers might still be a little sore, but by the time I got to a little plushie at the end and my headache cleared, I realized I was maintaining somewhere between Level 1 and 2 instead of the Level 4 I had spiked at. I actually felt brave enough to pull out some new yarn and work on a pattern I’ve done before and it went pretty well. By the time I went to bed, I could focus enough to read as well.

 The next day I started off in a much better place than I had the day before which is a good sign. I think it’s awesome how much crocheting had helped. I often find cross-stitch to be helpful as well (I am awaiting a new pattern drop right now), but I’ve seen so many articles talking about how crochet and knitting have connections to mental health benefits and since I’ve experienced it now, I get it. I really get it. So if you needed another reason to take the plunge to start learning fiber arts how about the mental health benefits?