Papermaking for Adults with depression
· Tearing when dry, easy to tear when thin, becomes harder with more layers.
· Fine motor skills, muscle building.
· The sound is crisp, satisfying, almost sharp, and rhythmic
· When soaked no sound, tearing is like tearing a pancake, organized mush, more organic
· Blender noise can be uncomfortable
· Cold water is uncomfortable, warm is inviting
· Paper bits sticking on hands may irritate
· Material is forgiving
Making paper provides many rhythmic tasks, and sensorial invitations to stay present. For adults with depression, this highly structured and highly sensorial task will be beneficial. The multi-step process of making paper, and then using the paper to create something will stretch their attending skills while providing them various sensorial inputs. Papermaking allows for success after a few pulls of paper, and it is easy to re-do when papers don’t come out as expected. It is forgiving, and the process can be simple or modified to have more complexity, to allow for entering into a flow state. This range can meet adults at their interest, those who may want to explore color, texture, and the concept of the paper pulp, or those who want to have a piece of paper to mark. The transformative nature of papermaking, taking scraps, and forming something useful makes tangible the changes that adults with depression are often going through and/or striving to go through.
The literature points to the physicality of the process. Including, “purposeful, concrete, and repetitive steps to safely engage” (Matott and Miller, 2020, p. 312). Adults with depression begin engaging in papermaking by cutting and tearing. This practical aspect may provide a safe distance from which to view overwhelming emotions.
I made several pieces of paper, which my child requisitioned for a book. I also experimented with casting the paper on plastic doilies. When I didn't have enough pulp for pulling paper sheets, I strained the remaining soup and formed a bowl that took quite a long time to dry. The ridges are from my fingers.
References
Matott, D. L., & Miller, G. M. (2020). Papermaking. In L. Leone (Ed.), The Routledge Companion to Health Humanities (pp. 311-316). Routledge.
