Crocheting Through Depression

[Pixieglitter]

Am I the only one who finds great comfort in crocheting, when I'm feeling so down and depressed? Four years ago, I went through a lot of tragedy in my life, and that was when I picked up my crochet hook again. At the time, I hadn't crocheted for about 20 years. It very quickly became my new passion.

Because I've suffered from major depression, debilitating depression, for most of my life, I know all about it. Some days, it's all I can do to focus on making a 6 inch square, or two. They work up quickly, and it makes me feel productive.

I'm curious about your thoughts on the subject of Crocheting your way through depression.

Hugs to all,
Shelley

[Barbara G.]

Depression can come from different things - feeling lonely, being stressed, medical issues ect. One of the best things to do is to work to change your FOCUS when feeling down. Crochet can be used to change our focus helping us to get our mind off of things, ect. Crocheting can give you something to look forward to and it can be VERY therapeutic!

[SusansSoulShines]

Depression can come from different things - feeling lonely, being stressed, medical issues ect. One of the best things to do is to work to change your FOCUS when feeling down. Crochet can be used to change our focus helping us to get our mind off of things, ect. Crocheting can give you something to look forward to and it can be VERY therapeutic!

This is so true Barbara. Crochet is my therapy, and it seems it is for most of us! I often tell how it helps me focus on something good instead of letting the pain consume my entire life. I can hardly lay my head on a pillow at night due to pain, so I don't get a lot of sleep, even with my new CPAP machine, which I can't stand! So I don't sleep well or often. It's a true miracle that I don't have depression, from my long term chronic pain, back to the early suicide of my father, my mother now living in a special long term care home with Alzheimer's, and no family left for many heartbreaking reasons except for my God-send of a wonderful & very supportive husband.

The story is much longer and intense than that, but no need to go thru the horrible details of my life. It's been one tragedy to another, with some good in between. But I am strong thru Christ and gratefully have been able to refuse to let depression into my life. I do feel great sympathy for those who have it, because when something has a hold on you and never lets go, it is your cross to bear, and like Shelley said, we all have our different heartaches.
Luke 9:23 ¶ And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

Many of you know that I live with debilitating chronic pain from Fibromyalgia and OsteoArthritis, and the 2 illnesses are in battle to see which can make me more miserable. I can hardly move these days between all the joint pain and every muscle, ligament and tendon between them screaming out 24/7, and yes, I do cry when I get overwhelmed by it all, but that just makes my head hurt worse, so I get over it and carry on. I had knee surgery from torn cartilage in July, but my other health problems made that injury worse than normal and I've had to use a walker for over a year now, but have been able to stop using it in my home now and use it only when I leave home, which isn't often... especially in the summer, which wipes me out so badly due to extreme temps affecting me so negatively. The constant edema in my feet and ankles has been horrible this year, but I had my heart checked and it seems to pumping well, so this new problem apparently stems from the pre-eclampsia I almost died from almost 40 yrs ago, so pregnancy problems in younger days can affect you forever. Great, like I need the past pain of 8 surgeries coming back to haunt me now on top of all of this.

I've always been a hand crafter, cross stitch, macrame, stenciling, painting ceramics, you name it. Creating things with my hands makes me feel productive and gives me one successful feeling of accomplishment after another. So when my pain caused me to stop doing everything, I became very lonely for creativity. One day my husband ordered me a beautiful silver & turquoise jewelry kit, with wire and a 3 in 1 tool. I thought I could no longer get into anything like that, but reluctantly I set about making a necklace, bracelet and earrings to match. In fact, I got lucky and when I called the company to ask about their wire gauge, they sent me another jewelry kit for free... so I made more! It felt really good, even tho being in the same position for long is hard and I'm never comfortable, but I really enjoyed it. For the first time in my life, reading just wasn't giving me the focus I needed, my mind was wandering when I read. So even tho jewelry wasn't what I wanted to do for long, I ended up with some awesome pieces, gave some gifts and sold some too, and my craving for creativity was back.

When I needed kitchen and bath towels and cloths, I knew that I was going to make them. It was really odd, because I knew nothing of the difference between knitting and crochet, but I chose crochet because it had only one hook. I knew that since I had made 2 granny afghans in high school. Luckily that was the best choice for me and for making the 'linens' I needed and still make to practice new stitches on, and now I make everything from cowls, headbands, shawls, designed a poncho, potted flowers, home decor by the handfuls, you name it! Crochet has saved me, and even tho it does cause more hand, wrist, arm and shoulder pain, I won't stop until I can't do it any more. I've taken pics of almost every single thing I've ever made, on my google+ page I uploaded pics of some cross stitch and decoupage, and here are the pics of some of my favorite pieces of jewelry to entertain you with:

[DonnaPBradshaw]

How fun! My GD would love these items you have showed us! Great work! Where do you sell them? or do you? Susan, have you looked into a vibra trim machine? It's a machine that you stand on and vibrates your body and could help you alot! I don't sell them but we have one and it helps me and my son who has Chronic Fatague Syndrome. He feels that if he didn't have this machine he would be a lot worse. I'm sending some articles that you might want to read.

Vibration and Inversion Exercise Equipment: Do They Work?

https://www.hypervibe.com/us/report/...FQeOaQodCBEMtA

[little drummer]

This is so true Barbara. Crochet is my therapy, and it seems it is for most of us! I often tell how it helps me focus on something good instead of letting the pain consume my entire life. I can hardly lay my head on a pillow at night due to pain, so I don't get a lot of sleep, even with my new CPAP machine, which I can't stand! So I don't sleep well or often. It's a true miracle that I don't have depression, from my long term chronic pain, back to the early suicide of my father, my mother now living in a special long term care home with Alzheimer's, and no family left for many heartbreaking reasons except for my God-send of a wonderful & very supportive husband.

The story is much longer and intense than that, but no need to go thru the horrible details of my life. It's been one tragedy to another, with some good in between. But I am strong thru Christ and gratefully have been able to refuse to let depression into my life. I do feel great sympathy for those who have it, because when something has a hold on you and never lets go, it is your cross to bear, and like Shelley said, we all have our different heartaches.
Luke 9:23 ¶ And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

Many of you know that I live with debilitating chronic pain from Fibromyalgia and OsteoArthritis, and the 2 illnesses are in battle to see which can make me more miserable. I can hardly move these days between all the joint pain and every muscle, ligament and tendon between them screaming out 24/7, and yes, I do cry when I get overwhelmed by it all, but that just makes my head hurt worse, so I get over it and carry on. I had knee surgery from torn cartilage in July, but my other health problems made that injury worse than normal and I've had to use a walker for over a year now, but have been able to stop using it in my home now and use it only when I leave home, which isn't often... especially in the summer, which wipes me out so badly due to extreme temps affecting me so negatively. The constant edema in my feet and ankles has been horrible this year, but I had my heart checked and it seems to pumping well, so this new problem apparently stems from the pre-eclampsia I almost died from almost 40 yrs ago, so pregnancy problems in younger days can affect you forever. Great, like I need the past pain of 8 surgeries coming back to haunt me now on top of all of this.

I've always been a hand crafter, cross stitch, macrame, stenciling, painting ceramics, you name it. Creating things with my hands makes me feel productive and gives me one successful feeling of accomplishment after another. So when my pain caused me to stop doing everything, I became very lonely for creativity. One day my husband ordered me a beautiful silver & turquoise jewelry kit, with wire and a 3 in 1 tool. I thought I could no longer get into anything like that, but reluctantly I set about making a necklace, bracelet and earrings to match. In fact, I got lucky and when I called the company to ask about their wire gauge, they sent me another jewelry kit for free... so I made more! It felt really good, even tho being in the same position for long is hard and I'm never comfortable, but I really enjoyed it. For the first time in my life, reading just wasn't giving me the focus I needed, my mind was wandering when I read. So even tho jewelry wasn't what I wanted to do for long, I ended up with some awesome pieces, gave some gifts and sold some too, and my craving for creativity was back.

When I needed kitchen and bath towels and cloths, I knew that I was going to make them. It was really odd, because I knew nothing of the difference between knitting and crochet, but I chose crochet because it had only one hook. I knew that since I had made 2 granny afghans in high school. Luckily that was the best choice for me and for making the 'linens' I needed and still make to practice new stitches on, and now I make everything from cowls, headbands, shawls, designed a poncho, potted flowers, home decor by the handfuls, you name it! Crochet has saved me, and even tho it does cause more hand, wrist, arm and shoulder pain, I won't stop until I can't do it any more. I've taken pics of almost every single thing I've ever made, on my google+ page I uploaded pics of some cross stitch and decoupage, and here are the pics of some of my favorite pieces of jewelry to entertain you with:

Susan your jewelry is exquisite. I am so sorry for all your troubles. I will pray that God will wrap you in his arms and give you the strength to handle what comes your way. Sending you (((HUGS)))

[SusansSoulShines]

Susan your jewelry is exquisite. I am so sorry for all your troubles. I will pray that God will wrap you in his arms and give you the strength to handle what comes your way. Sending you (((HUGS)))

Thank you little drummer, I'm glad you liked my jewelry! I have some beads left over from my supplies that I plan to use on some crochet pieces soon. Thank you too for your kind words of encouragement.

[crochetdiva]

Nice jewelry pieces.

[vickat]

No, I also "Crochet Through Depression". For some reason, it help's me get through the day's and night's. Beside's you need to keep "BUSY".
I really crochet up a storm around the Holiday's!! I make all kind of crocheted thing's!! But Some How it Help's work through the "The Rotten Way I Feel" and then in time I
"It's Gone" I guess that's the way we handle Thing's, But IT WORK'S.
Were all in it together, maybe differan t Problem's, BUT it WORK's. I FEEL IT'S GREAT THERAPY TO"
Were better off doing Crochet then "We Become More Postive". And that's "A Great Feeling". You'll Know When That Happen's To You".
"Just Remember Your A GOOD PERSON".

[jknemec01]

Good morning Shelley,
I, too, find great comfort with crochet. You are not alone.
I have been a member of Crochet Talk for quite some time now but rarely post. I do enjoy reading the posts and looking at everyone's accomplishments.
I had surgery on my right wrist last week and am finding it very difficult to crochet yet, thus not being able to "work through" this latest detour. Crochet is my best therapy for mostly everything. I have a box full of afghans to prove it and a very understanding husband!

[Greena]

I love the way you used the term "detour". I find that just the handling of the yarn and the act of chaining start me in the right direction.