Knitting, playing musical instruments good for post traumatic stress says UK psychologist

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 19 Apr 2004 - 0:00 PDT

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Knitting, playing musical instruments and handling worry beads are good for post traumatic stress, says a UK psychologist. Knitting can prevent flashbacks experienced by people who have witnessed horrifying events, says Dr. Emily Holmes.

Dr. Holmes gave a presentation at the British Psychological Society at their annual conference, London, UK. She explained an experiment she did on volunteers. They had to tap a complex pattern onto a keypad while at the same time being shown films of bloody road accidents.

The tapping, she explained, disrupted the brain's ability to absorb disturbing images and return to them later in unpleasant flashbacks. She said knitting probably achieves the same result as the knitter focuses on patterns and colours and needles.

She added that "Other activities that might have a beneficial effect could include playing a musical instrument, or even handling worry beads."