To some, arts and crafts might seem inconsequential. However, they do wonders to our mental health, and according to a new study, can improve it as much as having a job.

“Engaging with arts and crafts is accessible and affordable. Options such as knitting and drawing require very few tools and can be engaging and creatively fulfilling activities,” says Dr. Helen Keyes, cognitive psychologist and head of the school of psychology and sport science at Anglia Ruskin University.

A new study by Keyes and her fellow researchers has discovered that engaging in creative activities can significantly boost well-being by providing meaningful spaces for expression and achievement.

Even though previous studies have shown that creating arts and crafting is therapeutic for people with mental health conditions, the general population has been understudied, according to the team, who published their paper in Frontiers in Public Health in August.

Because of that, the researchers sampled people without diagnosed illnesses to see how arts and crafts might contribute to their well-being in everyday life.

The team used data from a major national survey in the UK between 2019-2020 to investigate how creative activities could impact life satisfaction, controlling for variables known to affect wellbeing, including gender, age group, health, employment status, and deprivation. In total, the researchers analyzed 7,182 participants living in England (age 16 and over) from the annual Taking Part survey conducted by the UK’s Department for Culture, Media, and Sport, which explores how the public engages with these activities.

“We kept our analysis to arts and crafting at a broad level, rather than focusing on specific hobbies, as we know that people’s preferences vary and they will find the craft or creative activity that works best for them,” Keyes explains.

More than 37% of respondents confirmed they had taken part in at least one craft activity over the last year.

People's reported happiness, life satisfaction and sense of lives being worthwhile were positively correlated to participating in arts and crafts. (However, arts and crafts were not associated with decreased anxiety or loneliness which might require further investigation. The researchers noted that additional studies are needed to examine the social aspects of creative activities.)

"Governments and national health services might consider funding and promoting crafting, or even socially prescribing these activities for at-risk populations as part of a promotion and prevention approach to wellbeing and mental health," Keyes says.

"Engaging with crafting is something that is relatively easy to introduce into your life."

The projects that we see in the pictures provide opportunities for free expression and a sense of achievement, which "is important for wellbeing," Keyes adds, "that is, people can see their progress and be proud of what they are producing."