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By Anna Jiang
With the new year, I spontaneously decided to pick up the hobby of jigsaw puzzles, where I soon learned of its positive impact on the mind and, subsequently, health.
Its purpose isn’t productivity but, instead, encouraging slowing down. For those in recovery from opioid addiction, these principles are largely the same. Even small habits count.
Integrating small, consistent habits, such as working puzzles, into recovery can be a positive move to long-lasting recovery and renewal.
Recovery relies on cumulative efforts that usually combine “medication as the first line of treatment,” followed by “some form of behavioral therapy or counseling”, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Although undoubtedly reliable, these two forms of recovery share the same weakness – a lack of independence. This factor becomes a challenge later in recovery when hand-in-hand support disappears.
In the midst of direct treatment lies “one of the most valuable tools for healing: … establishing a consistent routine”. Addiction disrupts the lives of its victims, leaving no room for the basic fundamental of life that is consistency. By committing to a new routine, no matter how big or small, “means creating structure and stability” that is vital to a long-lasting recovery.
At first glance, jigsaw puzzles may seem like a mindless rainy day activity when, in reality, they can provide much more than just entertainment. Olivia McIntosh, a writer and editor with Martha Stewart, writes of the ways puzzles can “[activate] multiple areas of our brain at once,” thus positively contributing to our overall cognitive health.
Maintenance of cognitive health proves to be one of the most important aspects in substance abuse recovery. Important functions, such as decision-making, impulse control, and other cognitive operations suffer under addiction. Disrupting these aspects enables the addiction cycle to continue, as lacking cognitive stimulation may end up taking a toll on the individual.
Therefore, the slow and steady integration of the “mindless” rainy day activity of puzzles into a routine proves beneficial. Not only do puzzles benefit everyone cognitively, partaking in such activities also improves mental health in general. The “calming, meditative effect” of puzzles allows those to free their mind of anxiety or stress as they focus on building the puzzle in front of them.
The great thing about puzzles is their consistency. No matter how tumultuous one’s life can turn, they can gain reassurance through knowing that they can always lean on puzzling.
In many ways, jigsaw puzzles mirror the process of recovery. It’s a slow process, with little progress at first, but the more time spent focusing on the bigger picture, the clearer and closer the end goal becomes. They become an extension of the person themself, reflecting how steady efforts can eventually form something whole.
This article was written as part of a program to educate youth and others about Alameda County’s opioid crisis, prevention and treatment options. The program is funded by the Alameda County Behavioral Health and the grant is administered by Three Valleys Community Foundation.
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