The heart beats faster, the breathing becomes louder, thoughts start racing as if they had drunk three coffees and decided to hold an emergency meeting inside our head. Hands sweat, fear rises so much that it feels as if it is blocking the breath, tears arrive without asking permission. Sometimes it becomes difficult to swallow, sleep, stay present. It is as if the body starts living future scenarios that the mind desperately tries to control before they even happen.

The word is only one: anxiety. For my generation, anxiety has never been a rare word; it has entered everyday conversations, voice messages to friends, the “I can’t do it today”, the nights when sleep seems like something that happens to other people... and no, it has not always been welcomed well.

Because, let’s be honest, how many times has someone tried to dismiss it with a lovely

“But you young people have everything, what are you complaining about?”

or with the great classic:

“When we were your age, we did much more than this, anxiety didn’t even exist!”

Well, trivializing a disorder that another person is experiencing is never the right solution. It does not help. It does not comfort. It does not make you stronger. Sometimes, instead, all you need is someone who sits next to you and listens.

I still remember the first time I had anxiety before a university exam: my mother sat beside me, she did not minimize it, she simply listened. And that alone, in certain moments, can become a form of rescue.

When anxiety needs to be faced

Anxiety can take many forms: it can arrive slowly like a fixed thought, or suddenly, like a wave that overwhelms you. But when it takes you to an emergency room bed, when it prevents you from living, sleeping, working, going out, breathing peacefully, then it is no longer enough to distract yourself a little: you need to face it, understand where it comes from, analyze it, give it a name and, above all, ask for help.

That is why it is essential to remember one thing: therapy is not a defeat, it is a tool. Mental health professionals have skills, methods and knowledge that can help us understand parts of ourselves that, on our own, we often cannot even see.

Then, with time, you also learn to recognize certain situations, you understand when anxiety is coming, you learn to lower the volume before it becomes too loud, and you may even manage to help people who are experiencing it in that moment. That is where small rituals come into play.

Anti-anxiety rituals: gestures that bring you back to the present

Some people try to regulate their breathing, giving it a slower rhythm; some place their hands or bare feet on the floor to return to the body; some seek cold, because that sharp and concrete sensation helps interrupt the mental spiral; some listen to white noise, relaxing playlists or natural sounds; some watch cartoons, light movies, comfort series, the ones you know almost by heart and that reassure you precisely because of that. And then there is the atmosphere. A warm light, a blanket, a cup beside you, a salt lamp, perhaps not as a miraculous remedy, but as an object capable of creating a more intimate, soft, less aggressive environment. Sometimes it is not the object itself that heals, but the ritual we build around it. And in this intimate space, made of small repeated gestures, crochet also enters.

Why crochet can help when anxiety is high

Insert the hook, catch the yarn, pull up the loop, repeat. It seems like very little, but it is not.

When you crochet, the mind shifts from the whirlwind of thoughts to a concrete action. It is a form of guided attention: the hands work, the eyes follow the yarn, the body enters a repetitive and recognizable gesture.

• You do not have to decide everything.
• You do not have to solve everything.
• You only have to make the next stitch.

And sometimes, when anxiety is high, having only the next stitch in front of you is already a small truce.

Crochet does not eliminate anxiety, it does not replace therapy, it does not erase fears, but it can change the volume; it can turn a confused moment into a gesture, a racing thought into a stitch.

Simple projects to make when anxiety is high

When anxiety makes itself felt, it is not the best moment to start a complicated project with calculations, increases, decreases and patterns that seem to come straight out of an advanced textile engineering course. It is better to choose simple, repetitive, reassuring projects.

• A bandana is perfect because it progresses in a linear way: back and forth, stitch after stitch, without too many surprises.
• Crochet bijoux are small, quick and gratifying. They immediately give you the feeling that you have completed something.
• A pochette is useful and beautiful: a few steps, a practical result, that “I made it myself and yes, I am also very proud” effect.
• A crochet keychain can become a mini bag project, a gift or a creative talisman to keep with you.
• A basket is ideal when you need an orderly, circular, almost meditative project. Round after round, the project grows and you see it take shape.

The rule is simple: when anxiety is high, choose projects that do not test you, but accompany you.

From America comes the Anti-Anxiety Bag

It is from America that a very interesting trend is coming: the anti-anxiety bag, a trend signed by Gen Z.

According to a survey carried out on almost 1,000 young Americans between the ages of 18 and 26, 61% said they had received a diagnosis of anxiety disorder, while 43% reported experiencing at least one panic attack per month. Many choose to deal with the problem through psychotherapy and medication, important tools but not always immediately effective when anxiety arrives suddenly.

As Dr. Kyra Bobinet, physician and behavioral neuroscientist, explained: «Techniques such as mindfulness and body scanning are excellent, but you have to remember to practice them». The point, according to Bobinet, is that in an everyday context increasingly filled with stimuli, noise, notifications and pressure, it is not so obvious to be able to stop and remember what to do at the exact moment when the body goes into alarm mode.

For many people, awareness comes precisely from lived experience. This is the case of Stefany Staples, a twenty-four-year-old from Atlanta, Georgia, who in 2024 began living with anxiety in a very concrete way, through intense physical symptoms, including heart palpitations that took her to the hospital more than once. «I thought anxiety was mostly about overthinking and feeling completely overwhelmed, but it is much more than that», Staples said.

That is why Stefany Staples created a small personal kit to carry with her at all times, placing useful objects for critical moments inside her bag: lavender essential oil to regain calm and sour candies, whose intense flavor helps shift attention away from anxious thoughts.

Specialists look at this habit with interest, while still urging caution. According to Dr. Vinay Saranga, psychiatrist and founder of the North Carolina Institute of Advanced NeuroHealth, «the anti-anxiety bag is a great idea to help patients suffering from anxiety and panic attacks». The goal, however, should be to gradually reduce the objects needed, without experiencing it as a failure when you need to use them.

A bag that does not contain only keys, phone, wallet and those three mysterious things that live at the bottom and that nobody dares to name. It contains small tools, carefully chosen, to bring you back to the present.

What to put in an anti-anxiety kit to carry in your bag

Every anti-anxiety kit should be personal, there is no universal list, because what calms one person may not work for another.

But we can start with a few simple, practical objects that are easy to carry with you:

• Lavender oil to calm the nerves
• Sour candies that distract the mind thanks to their sharp flavor
• Stress balls
• A book to read
• A mini coloring book with a mini color kit
• Yarn and crochet hook
• Pen and journal to collect your thoughts
• Airpods to listen to the playlist that calms you

And this is where we thought: what if this bag were also handmade?

The Monet Bag: the perfect crochet bag to hold your anti-anxiety kit

From this American trend comes our inspiration: to suggest a crochet bag model that is easy, quick and perfect for holding your anti-anxiety kit.

We are talking about the Monet Bag, a project by Fata Tuttofare, designed as a net bag, light and spring-like, enriched by the delicate Water Lily stitch.

Its special feature? Inside, it has an eco-leather pouch with drawstring, perfect for keeping everything you want to carry with you without leaving anything visible.

The net structure makes it fresh, modern, very spring mood. The Water Lily stitch adds that romantic detail that immediately makes it a bag for a walk, a Saturday outing, a “I’m going for coffee but with style” moment.

The project is made with IGGY XXL by Tessiland, a yarn ideal for giving body to the bag and making it the star of the look, without losing that handmade feeling that is becoming more and more loved in fashion too.

• iggy pouch

MONET BAG crochet tutorial.

You can make your Monet Bag by following the video tutorial by Fata Tuttofare:

And if you do not suffer from anxiety?

If you do not suffer from this disorder, first of all, know that you are lucky. And yes, you can still fall in love with the Monet Bag. Because beyond the anti-anxiety theme, it remains a beautiful crochet bag for spring outings: light, feminine, distinctive, with that mix of handmade and fashion that works so well today.

You can use it for a walk, an aperitif, a day out, a weekend look or a trip when you want to carry something practical but never ordinary.

Because a handmade bag is never just a bag: it is a way to say something about you.

Creativity does not cure everything, but it can accompany a lot

Anxiety, when it arrives, should not be romanticized. We can learn to listen to it, we can ask for help, we can build small rituals of protection around ourselves, we can choose gestures that bring us back to the present. And for those who love the handmade world, crochet can become one of these gestures. Not because it solves everything, but because, stitch after stitch, it reminds us of one simple thing: even when everything feels messy inside, we can still create something. And perhaps that is exactly where we begin again. Creativity is an excellent ally for anxiety disorders: give it free rein and share it with others too.

Rosaria Tessiland®

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