Woodcarving for mental health

[squbrigg]

Lynn......
Man who talks to animal....he's ok!
Man who talks to animal and animal talks back....still ok!
Man who talks to animal, and animal talks back and man listens.....man in trouble!!!

Grandpabatball ..... My friend, I could write a book on this topic. But, I'll try to keep it brief.

I have been ship modelling and carving for 36+ years, and enjoyed it as a hobby for every moment of those years. 1998 I was injured in a car accident, suffered a tramatic brain injury and neck and back injuries. For a year, I wasn't able to do anything, had to slowly gain ground to just carry out the daily functions of life. When I had sufficient strength and endurance, I got back at carving, had to relearn much or "reawaken" the skills that got scrambled. Made a lot of mistakes, but perservered, and am still at it. Carving was my life line, it gave me that little bit of the day that I wasn't focused on pain and depressed with what I had lost. When I picked up a tool, I focused all my attention on that task, it was perfect therapy for my impared:memory, concentration, problem solving difficulties and attention. Even when I was in the rehab center for brain injury recovery, they went out and bought tools for me to use, they knew it was a perfect therapy for me.

I continue to carve, I struggle with limited endurance and still fight with pain daily, but, I have learned alternate methods of doing things, I use power to rough out and finish with edged tools. It takes me forever to do things and there are days that I'm not able to pick up a tool because my head is too confused and I just can't focus on any one thing, but I always get back at it. It helps!

Sorry I can't express it better than that, but it works for me and others with similar difficulties. I had read that folks who played music didn't fall victium to those senior problems, so it may have something to do with "arts" and the focus it takes to do them. It must help the brain .... force the brain, to work and stay sharp. Good luck.

Bob

[Ron Davidson]

Very well said Bob!
Ron

[Just Carving]

I think that carving would definitely help improve our mental faculties simply because it is a stress reliever--at least for me, it is. I can be totaly stressed out from work, looking after my elderly Father, illness, etc. and all I need to do is pick up one of my carving tools, and all my troubles take a back seat and my mind clears. I am so interested in carving that I forget a lot of what is happening or has happened. So, in my mind, stress relief would definitely ease not only mental illness, but it would also help in the area of physical ailments. Since stress and illness can feed off each other, carving is the "antidote", as well as any other relaxing activity.

[Paul_Guraedy]

I believe that the involvement in creativity (anything beyond the pointy stick phase qualifies with woodcarving) is good for the mind and and is therefore theraputic.

Just start carving in public, listen to what people say about your activity in relation to their ability to do the same thing and you will quickly realize that you are well outside the accepted definition of "normal".

I have long suspected that the more creative a person is, the further that individual is from the mental mainstream of society. This is why so much value is placed on "art" which is the embodiment of "non-normal".

Therapy is primarily exercising the ability to channel and control activity whether mental, physical, or a combination of both. Certainly this is good.

[squbrigg]

Paul .... well put and you are right on the public carving thing, and normal vrs other. The discipline it takes to carve and create must, as you say, "channel and control activity" as well, I believe it forces the brain to use "new areas" to do what once was preformed by a previous section that may have been damaged or deteriorating. The mind is a funny thing, delicate and fragile, but can work wonders when applied in ways "outside the norm" to achieve results previously unattempted. Never stop trying!

Bob