crafting composure part ii

8/18/2019 Crafting Composure Part II

1/25

Crafting Composure Part II: A Study of the Clinic,

Mental Instability and Embroidery

Amy Chandler2016


2/25

"

“The real problem about psychoanalysis is that so many people behave as if it were true.”

- David Cooper, The Language of Madness, 1978 (23).


3/25

#

Anxiety, depression, and other forms of mental instability

are widely prevalent in today’s contemporary society. Although

mental unwellness is not as heavily stigmatized as it was a

century ago, individuals, including myself, struggle daily with

coping with mental instability, the perception of it in society,

and how to care for such unpleasant feelings. This paper, which

is a second installment of a project I began in September of

2015 1 , is an inquisition into the connections between mental

wellness and craft processes. I investigate the systematic

treatment of mentally unwell individuals in a clinical setting,

a brief history of mental health in European and North American

regions, and the availability of healthy management techniques

for all persons, regardless of financial status, gender, race,

or class. This paper is born out of personal experience, and I

seek to add to the ever-growing discourse surrounding the

accessibility of free, useful, sustainable, and flexible methods

of coping with mental instability.

To investigate the links between the creative process and

mental health, I have utilized both primary and secondary

sources. The heart of this project is drawn from practice-based

research. Throughout the course of this research, I have

embroidered steadily, and recorded my mental wellness in a blog

$ Amy Chandler. “Crafting Composure” 2015. " www.craftingcomposure.tumblr.com


4/25

%

online. 2 I have also had multiple e-mail interviews, and have

engaged with the archival fonds on the occupational therapist

and weaver Mary E. Black housed at the Nova Scotia Archives. For

secondary sources, I have drawn from many books and articles,

especially David Cooper’s Language of Madness 3 , Rozsika Parker’s

The Subversive Stitch 4 , and Michel Foucault’s Madness and

Civilization . 5 I have also looked at the ideologies of

psychologists Jan Baptista van Helmont, and Sigmund Freud. I am

using social art history and a critique of psychoanalytic theory

to contend with this body of research, which I am viewing

through a feminist lens.

Shortly after I graduated from high school in my late

teens, I was diagnosed with Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD),

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and General Depression

Disorder. Although I acknowledged chronological catalysts that

lead to the institutional treatment of these categorized

disorders, I knew I had grappled with these hindrances through

the entire memory of my life. Now they were named. I engaged

with a traditional psychoanalytic therapist upon the

encouragement of my mother. Our sessions felt uncomfortable,

" www.craftingcomposure.tumblr.com # David Cooper. The Language of Madness , 1978. % Rozsika Parker. The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of theFeminine , 1984. & Michel Foucault. Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Ageof Reason , 1965.


5/25

&

cold, clinical, and lacking connection. Even shifting to

different therapists or clinics did not seem to ease the

discomfort of my interactions.

One experience in particular was astoundingly impersonal.

On a first session with a specific psychologist, she gave me

quantitative surveys to fill out before my next appointment.

These surveys asked questions such as “how often are you

entirely unable to sleep?” or “how often do you find yourself

thinking suicidal thoughts?”. You were supposed to measure your

response to these huge, weighing questions on a scale of 1 to 5,

5 being all the time, 1 being never. It was a long time before I

was able to bring my filled in surveys back to my therapist as

she canceled and rescheduled my next appointment 3 or 4 times,

despite my answers to these questions ranging in the 4s and 5s.

When I was finally able to bring my responses in for analysis,

she did a quick tally, then curtly informed me that I was

categorized as having general depression and social anxiety

disorder. She then informed me that she was a very busy person,

and I “wasn’t that bad,” so unless I was feeling immediately

suicidal, I didn’t need to come back. I knew instantly that this

form of treatment for my mental instabilities was not working,

was not worth the vast hourly rate, and that I needed to

investigate other avenues.


6/25

'

I attempted yoga, meditation, exercise, cleaning sprees,

and medication. I found none of these solutions to be

sustainable for my individual personality, so none of them

assisted permanently in managing the abyss that is suffering

from mental instability.

2 years ago I began teaching myself how to embroider. Aside

from the many pleasures I believe to be inherent to embroidery

as a craft, I noticed a calmness in performing the repetitive

task of stitching. Embroidering soon became a delightful pastime

for me, and I found myself losing hours (and stresses) to the

craft. Being a self-taught artist, I found a control in honing

my skills, and having total freedom over the pictorial content

within my works. That meditative healing, which derived from an

especially accessible and portable craft, became the jumping off

point for this project, and the further investigations within it

into the creative/productive process and reducing mental

instability.

I would like to take this opportunity to state my personal

biases on the treatment of mental instability and my stance in

relation to psychoanalytic therapy within this paper. It is my

belief that mental instabilities, although absurdly unpleasant,

potentially hazardous to one’s physical health, and dismally

confusing, do not need to be completely eradicated. It is my

personal belief that the complete entity of mental illness is


7/25

(

not negative. For instance, my anxiety sometimes acts as a sixth

sense to me, and I find myself very aware of others’ telling

mannerisms and thoughts. My depression allows me to be critical

of my surroundings, my relationships, and myself. My OCD is very

helpful in my artistic practice, and has been instrumental in

developing an aesthetic that I find delightful and visually

pleasing. I do not mean to romanticize mental illness in any

way. It is my intention to impart that not all experiences

within mental instability are definitively negative. This method

of managing my mental instabilities is in no way intended to be

universal. It is more so an experience that I, and others as the

interviews show, have found helpful, and could potentially be

used or adapted to assist a wider population. There is long

history of interactions between mentally unwell individuals,

their experiences, and their perception by society that has lead

to me being able to come to this position in relation to mental

wellness.

History

Although mental instability, or “madness” as it may have

been referred to historically, is seemingly prevalent in

contemporary society, it is nothing new. As history progresses

through the Common Era, treatments of individuals suffering from

mental instability, and the classification of their plights have


8/25

)

varied. It is helpful to grasp a vastly condensed history of

mental (un)wellness and its perception in society in order to

properly contextualize my practice-based research and the

interview responses.

In the beginning of the 15 th century, individuals suffering

from mental instability were viewed and treated as the awkward

group within society that just didn’t mesh well. These persons

were carted or sailed off to remote places. 6 Mentally unwell

individuals were often banned from entering churches, 7 and there

developed a noticeable tension between mentally “healthy” and

“unhealthy” members of society. Mental instability remained

mysterious, its source and necessary treatment unclear.

In Canada in the 17 th and 18 th centuries, it was thought by

European settlers that bizarre behaviours could be attributed to

demonic possession, or an imbalance of the 4 bodily humors. 8

Exorcisms were occasionally performed on individuals suffering

from madness, or prayers were said in their name. 9 To restore

what was thought to be an imbalance in the 4 bodily humors

(blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile) early Canadian

' Michel Foucault. Madness and Civilization , 1965: 8. ( Ibid, 9-10. ) James E. Moran. “History of Madness and Mental Illness: A Short History ofCare and Treatment in Canada”, 2009. * Ibid.


9/25


10/25

$+

its Director having final veto power over all treatments

performed on housed individuals. The committed individuals

within the Hôpital Général were mostly all male.

If you were a female experiencing mental instability at

this time and place, you were sent to the Salpêtrière, which

opened in 1670. 14 The majority of these women were categorized as

suffering from “hysteria”. Hysteria derives from the Greek word

for “uterus” and the intense emotionality it denoted was once

thought to be due to a wandering womb. 15 Men, due to their

anatomy were of course exempt from this diagnosis. A woman was

diagnosed as hysterical if she exhibited shallow and/or extreme

emotions, uncontrollable shaking fits, paralysis, and/or

overdramatic or attention-seeking behaviours. The French

psychologist Jean-Martin Charcot was one of the main attendants

to this disease. Charcot ran a popular weekly lecture series in

the Salpêtrière, using live female patients as exhibits or

specimens. 16 These women were analyzed, photographed, and

agitated to the point of “hysterical fits” which were in fact

seizures or panic attacks. 17 The term “hysteria” was a vast

diagnosis, encompassing far too many symptoms for the treatment

of it to be of any help to anyone.

$% Georges Didi-Huberman. Invention of Hysteria , 2003: 3. $& Rebecca Solnit. Men Explain Things To Me , 2014: 105. $' Didi-Huberman. Invention of Hysteria , 23.$( Ibid, 3.


11/25

$$

These houses of confinement from the 17 th century were the

models for the ones that became so prevalent in North American

beginning in the 19 th century. Asylums were built beginning on

the Eastern coast of Canada, with one of the first built in

Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. This hospital, named the Mount Hope

Asylum for the Insane, opened its doors in 1895. Within these

asylums, massive issues of power abuse occurred, with instances

of wrongful confinement, and institutional violence toward

patients. Even treatment that was deemed medically acceptable

was highly questionable. For instance, the use of water as a

treatment on mentally unwell patients was problematic. Immersion

into water was seen as purifying and cleansing, ridding the mind

and the body of ailments. 18 Jan Baptista van Helmont, a Flemish

psychologist practicing in the early 17 th century, thought that

by plunging patients into water, he had cured them of insanity.

He is quoted as saying, “The only care that must be taken, is to

plunge the sufferers into the water suddenly and unawares, and

to keep them there for a long time. One need have no fear for

their lives.” 19 In this quote, van Helmont demonstrates his

perception of his patients as objectified and disposable, and

therefore his hierarchical position above them.

Sigmund Freud also demonstrates problems within treatment

of mentally unwell individuals. Freud was an Austrian

$) Foucault. Madness and Civilization , 168. $* Foucault quoting van Helmont. Madness and Civilization , 168.


12/25

$"

neurologist practicing in the late 19 th and early 20 th centuries.

He is known as the “Father of Psychoanalysis”. Freud categorized

anxiety as a “free-floating” fear, as opposed to a phobia-

specific fear. 20 Free-floating fear, according to Freud, was

entirely caused by sexual frustration, or “ coitus interruptus ”. 21

He is also quoted as saying, “for the average human it is true

that anxiety and sexual constraint belong together.” 22 Freud did

individuals suffering from mental instability within his care a

vast disservice by classifying all causes of anxiety as sexual

ones, and did not look deeper for a different conclusion than

his expected one.

Although presently doctors are no longer practicing hostile

water immersion as a treatment for anxiety and/or depression,

psychoanalytic techniques born of that era are still used today.

Traditional medical treatments for mental instability proved

insufficient for me. I would like to take this opportunity to

consider an excerpt from David Cooper’s Language of Madness:

“There are no examples to follow, certainly not mine. What is

necessary for one person is by no means necessary for anyone

else. We each have our own madnesses, our own paths.” 23

"+ Sigmund Freud. “XXV. Fear and Anxiety.” A General Introduction toPsychoanalysis, 1920: paragraph 20. "$ Ibid, paragraph 18. "" Ibid, paragraph 20. "# David Cooper. The Language of Madness , 1978: 16.


13/25

$#

“Many chemical medications are prescribed for individuals

suffering from mental instabilities. Most commonly prescribed

for anxiety are benzodiazepines or tranquilizers like

alprazolam, clonazepam, or lorazepam, but beta-blockers or anti-

depressants are also used. For some people, these medications

are useful, effective, and helpful. For others, they are not the

right path. Unfortunately, many benzodiazepines are physically

addictive and lead to dependency after just a few weeks or

months. Medications can also have the opposite of the intended

effect, in some cases increasing anxiety or causing suicidal

thoughts.

“Taking or not taking medication is a personal choice. For

myself, it was not the right one. Unfortunately, many doctors

and physicians prescribe medication to patients without

considering that person’s specific history for addiction, or the

exact nature of that individual’s mental illness. This decision

is often executed quickly and without careful consideration

because of the over-stuffed nature of our medical

institutions.” 24

Now that an extremely condensed history of the treatment

and perception of mentally unwell persons within western society

has been established, it and its lingering effects in

contemporaneity can be critiqued.

"% Chandler. Crafting Composure , 11-12. **I had written this part so accuratelyin the first installment of this paper that I could not bear to reword it.


14/25

$%

Problems with Traditional Psychoanalytical Therapy

Psychoanalysis is defined by Merriam-Webster as “a method

of explaining and treating mental and emotional problems by

having the patient talk about dreams, feelings, memories, etc.” 25

This method of treatment doesn’t sound so bad, and I do not find

fault in the treatment of mental instability by that definition.

However, when one considers the professionalization of the field

of psychology, this is where it becomes problematic. Acquiring

psychoanalytical treatment in contemporary western society

usually involves an exchange of currency. Excepting getting

referred to a random psychologist by one’s family or clinic

doctor, individuals suffering from mental instability are

usually on the hook for a hefty bill for their treatment. In

2015, the average salary for psychologists practicing in Canada

was $75,850 per year. 26 In Nova Scotia in 2015, the average

salary for an individual was $35,360. 27 The average hourly rate

an individual must pay to receive psychoanalytical therapy in

Canada in 2011 was $83 per hour. 28 To put that in perspective,

that hourly rate was $73 more than the minimum wage in Nova

"& Merriam-Webster.com. . "' Payscale.com. . "( Statistics Canada. . ") Chron.ca. .


15/25

$&

Scotia at the time, which was $9.65-$10.00. 29 Medication for

mental instability can also be expensive. If it were not for my

insurance in 2014, I would have been charged $90 for a

prescription meant to last 12 days.

I also find issue in the language and categorization that

occurs within the clinical treatment of mental instability.

Complicated medical terms and names for mental disorders

alienate the individual from their own experiences. Language

surrounding the treatment and perception of mental instability

is highly important. It can be the difference between an

individual continuing with care that does not work for them, and

finding a solution suitable to their unique mental needs.

Language surrounding mental instability defines how individuals

experiencing it and those around them perceive it. It is

language that diminishes the vastly different connections within

a mind into specific, scientific categories. It is language that

reinforces a hierarchical power binary between doctor and

patient, between healthy and unhealthy, and between sane and

insane. It is language that alienates the individual from their

own experiences through complicated medical terms and

categorization. But it is also language that validates an

experience like anxiety, which tells the individual over and

over again of its unreality.

"* Novascotia.ca. .


16/25

$'

Accessible Solutions for Mental Instability

For myself, traditional psychoanalytic therapy and medication

were not successful in managing my mental instabilities. I find

support from relationships and friendships in my life,

connecting with individuals in person and over the internet who

are experiencing similar things

to me, visualization and

grounding techniques, and most of

all craft processes to be

extremely helpful in managing and

encouraging my mental health.

Crafting, especially embroidery,

has been paramount in assisting

in my mental wellness. The

feelings that come with being

creative and productive, no matter how small or fleeting, are

instrumental in my maintaining a healthy balance with my mental

space.

Figure 1: Embroidery by Amy Chandler,2016. Photograph courtesy of the

author.


17/25

$(

Throughout the course of this

project, I have embroidered

fervently. I have also recorded my

thoughts and feelings on a blog

online 30 as I craft, as a resource to

draw upon to support my hypothesis of

the creative process aiding in mental

wellness. I created four pieces of

embroidery art (see Fig. 1, Fig. 2,

Fig. 3, and Fig. 4) that representing my technique of

visualization to manage anxiety. In some instances, and for

myself, anxiety is the hyperactivity of negative thoughts. I use

visualization to try to focus my

thoughts on a specific mental

image or motion. I picture my

heart in my chest, then I encase

it in a wooden box (see Fig. 1).

Then I place that box in an

outlandishly pink heart case,

encrusted and bejeweled with

crystals (see Fig. 2). That

heart-shaped case gets enclosed

within a stainless steel

#+ www.craftingcomposure.tumblr.com

Figure 2: Embroidery by AmyChandler, 2016. Photographcourtesy of the author.

Figure 3: Embroidery by Amy Chandler,2016. Photograph courtesy of the author.


18/25

$)

spherical case that is terrifyingly sharp with spikes and studs

(see Fig. 3). That weapon of a case is then set into a deep

purple sphere, and encircled with gold bands connecting into an

all-seeing, protective eye (see Fig. 4). This process continues,

continually enclosing, with focus on minute visual details of

each case and box until I begin to feel the pending anxiety

attack recede. This aspect of my coping techniques paired well

with the process of embroidery I explored in my practice-based

research. Embroidery allows close focus on a manual process. It

slows the mind because it slows the hands as well.

Through my research I also was able to conclude that for me,

embroidery also assisted in the

process of grounding. “Grounding”

is a process where an individual

focuses on their physical

environment to situate themselves

in reality and hopefully away

from an anxiety attack. Grounding

is often practiced by thinking of

“find five things you can see,

four things you can touch, three

things you can hear, etc” or

something along those lines. I find embroidery, and other craft

practices helpful in grounding techniques, as it requires focus

Figure 4: Embroidery by Amy Chandler,2016. Photograph courtesy of the author.


19/25

$*

on a specific physical activity that engages the mind in

creativity and repetitive action.

Another way embroidery has been helpful in reducing mental

instability is in its social aspects. Stitching is usually quite

portable and small. I often carry mine in a Ziploc bag wherever

I go, and can bring it out whenever I feel uncomfortable. There

are also many stitching bees, where one can go to embroider or

craft and chat with other folks. Earlier this semester, I had

the good fortune of being asked to co-host the Mental Health

Collective here at NSCAD University to talk about this project

and to discuss solutions for mental instability through craft

processes. We had a small, very casual gathering, where we all

crafted and had an open discussion about techniques we used in

our own lives to reduce mental instability. Many folks at the

meeting found the repetitive nature of crafting helpful in

reducing anxiety or mental instability. It was noted that visual

progress was very important in this process. For instance,

sanding of metals in jewelry-making techniques is a repetitive

task, but takes a vastly long time to produce any visual

progress. Embroidery on the other hand has the potential to

produce that visual satisfaction rather quickly in comparison.

I am not the first to connect craft practices with mental

wellness. Mary E. Black, a weaver and occupational therapist,

was heavily invested in craft’s ability to assist in many


20/25

"+

aspects of personal wellness. Black was born in 1895 in

Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. 31 She was educated in Wolfville,

Nova Scotia and graduated from the Acadia Ladies’ Seminary in

1913. 32 In 1919, Black traveled to Montreal, where she took a

course on occupational therapy, run by the federal government.

This course trained aides on techniques used to help soldiers

returning from war to reintegrate into society. The techniques

taught at this course were “basketry, book-binding, block-

printing, bead-work, designing, fancy-work, raffia, stenciling,

toy-making, woodcarving and weaving”. 33 It was taught by the

federal government in 1919 that craft processes aide the mental

stability of soldiers returning from the horrors of war. Black

went on to work as an occupational therapist for many years, and

advocated for craft processes in connection with mental wellness

for the rest of her life. Black provided advice, resources, and

demonstrations on craftwork, with emphasis on helping people

help themselves. Black taught individuals how to make simple and

useful objects for their own lives, or as a product to sell to

make a living. She advocated for quality craftsmanship and good

use of colours to assist in marketability. Black’s contribution

to the use of crafts to aide in mental stability is vastly

#$ Catherine Brackley. “Mary E. Black.” Canadian Association of OccupationalTherapists, Web.#" Ibid. ## Ward Occupational Aide Graduation Certificate, 1919. NS Archives, referenceno: MG 1 Vol. 2876 12


21/25

"$

important and I would not be approaching this project in the

same way if it were not for her research and community practice

beginning nearly a century ago.

Many of the folks I interviewed over e-mail agreed with my

findings that craft/creative processes aided in managing their

mental instabilities. Nicole said:

I find drawing mandalas to be an extremely calming and meditativeprocess. If I feel anxious/depressed, I feel relieved after

completing or even starting a new drawing. The feelings that come with being productive and creative are essential to my mentalhealth. 34

Another interviewee, Leanne, had similar things to say:

The process of weaving is very calming to me. Every part of it,the planning, setting up your warp, threading the loom, whichtakes almost as much time as weaving the actual cloth. It takes alot of patience but for me it is meditative because I don’t have

to think about what I am doing, my body just does it… The creativetranscendent-like zone you get into when making something is verypeaceful. When you are able to enter that realm its very freeingand puts other life worries on hold. If you have things on your

mind it is good to get it out through some form of medium. 35

Most of the interviews included responses with the word

“meditative” in them. I also find craft processes, especially

embroidery to be meditative. One may argue that having a mental

silence while embroidering can only foster more anxious

thoughts, and of course for some individuals that may occur. In

my personal experience, and seemingly in others according to the

#% Nicole MacIntyre. E-mail interview, 1 Mar. 2016. #& Leanne Hansen. E-mail interview, 4 Mar. 2016.


22/25

""

interview responses, the mental silence that accompanies close

focus on a physical process is meditative in the base sense of

the word. Meditation is the eschewing of thoughts, the clearing

of the mind of both negative and positive thoughts, allowing an

individual to just be in the moment, without pressure. This is

how embroidery serves me in coping with my mental instabilities.

Concluding Thoughts

Through this project, I hope to have shown that embroidery

and similar repetitive creative processes can have a positive

effect on some individuals suffering from mental instability.

This technique is in no way meant to be a universal treatment

for all forms of mental unwellness.

The history of the treatment and perception of mental

instability within society has shown that a multitude of

approaches and techniques have been used. The methods that have

proven useful have stayed, and the ones that were useless,

sexist, and/or abusive have been actively eradicated or have

died out. Throughout the course of history many different

methods of coping with mental illness have been suggested and

utilized and I hope my research will add to that discourse.

There is a large accepted myth that in contemporary

society, professional psychoanalytical treatment and/or

medication are one of the only universal “cures” or treatments


23/25

"#

for mental instabilities. The practice-based research and

primary interviews have definitively shown that the feelings an

individual experiences during and after the creative act

actively counter mental instability. Some interviewees and

myself often set out to create something for the express purpose

of calming our mental spaces.

Finding accessible, free, and flexible techniques for

coping with mental instability is of paramount importance.

Techniques like grounding, visualization, and socialization all

work hand in hand with craft processes, as my own practice-based

research and interviews have shown. The treatment of mentally

unwell individuals by large systematic institutions is not

useful for all, although they’d like you to think their “cure”

is universal. It is my opinion that mental instability does not

need a cure, only healthy management. I hope through this

research (and the continuance of it) I have started to develop a

possible way of managing mental instability. Embroidery and

other craft processes have been immeasurably helpful in my

mental wellbeing, and I will be continuing to use it as an

effective weapon against depression and anxiety.


24/25


25/25

"&

Hansen, Leanne. E-mail interview. 4 Mar. 2016.

Kim, Woochang. E-mail interview. 25 Feb. 2016.

Koplos, Janet, and Bruce Metcalf. Makers: A History of AmericanStudio Craft . Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina, 2010. Print.

MacIntyre, Nicole. E-mail interview. 1 Mar. 2016.

Marchessault, Janine, and Kim Sawchuk. Wild Science: ReadingFeminism, Medicine, and the Media . London: Routledge, 2000.Print.

McFadden, David Revere. Pricked: Extreme Embroidery . New York:Museum of Arts & Design, 2007. Print.

McNiff, Shaun. Art Heals: How Creativity Cures the Soul . Boston:Shambhala, 2004. Print.

Moran, James E. “History of Madness and Mental Illness: A ShortHistory of Care and Treatment in Canada.” History of Madness .N.p., 2009. Web. 29 Mar. 2016. .

Mosher, Sarah. Personal interview. 16 Nov. 2015.

Parker, Rozsika. The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and theMaking of the Feminine . London: Women’s, 1984. Print.

Petersen, Grete, and Elsie Svennâs. Handbook of Stitches: 200Embroidery Stitches, Old and New, with Descriptions, Diagramsand Samples . New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1970. Print.

Plokker, J.H. Art from the Mentally Disturbed: The ShatteredVision of Schizophrenics . Boston: Little, Brown, 1965. Print.

Prain, Leanne and Jeff Christenson.Hoopla: The Art of

Unexpected Embroidery . Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp, 2011. Print.

Ritter, Hal. “Anxiety.” Journal of Religion and Health 29.1(1990): 49-53. JSTOR . Web. 13 Sept. 2015.

Ryan, Catherine. E-mail interview. 24 Feb. 2016.

Thomson, Harry. E-mail interview. 8 Nov. 2015.

crafting composure part ii

Documents