How playing with Lego could be your solution to overcoming anxiety

Although here in the Nordics we continuously rank as among the happiest in the world, it has come to light in studies in recent years that anxiety does indeed exist underneath this cloak of happiness. “More and more young people are getting lonely and stressed and having mental disorders,” says Michael Birkjaer of the Happiness Research Institute. “We are seeing that this epidemic of mental illness and loneliness is reaching the shores of the Nordic countries.”

To cope, some are turning to unusual methods to ease their stress. One such unconventional practice is playing with Lego bricks and using the tiny toys as a mindfulness tool to relieve the toll of anxiety.

May Lyden, a student at the IT University of Copenhagen, was struggling to integrate into a new community and found it impacting her mental health. “I’m trying to get to know new people and make friends here, but it isn’t easy as I have social anxiety,” the 23 year old tells Vogue Scandinavia. “But the most stressful thing at the moment is managing finances. With the prices rising, and Denmark already have a high cost of living, it is quite tight right now.”

When Lyden was studying to get her bachelor’s degree years ago, she was really struggling with mental health and her parents sent her a small Lego kit in the lead up to Christmas as a little treat. “I spent hours meticulously organising the pieces before I even started building,” she says. “When it was finished, the satisfaction was really rewarding. That was the first time I really noticed that I felt much better. For a while I was able to put aside everything that was worrying me and just build.”

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Since that Christmas gift, Lyden has carried on building with Lego, often setting aside a whole day to create. “It is such a perfect hobby for mindfulness,” she says. “It takes just enough focus to switch off all the nagging anxieties, which is great if you're bad at actually resting your mind. I'll often find if I have a difficult problem with my studying or a decision to make, I have a much clearer idea of how to approach it after I have spent time with my Lego.”

"While the concept of mindfulness is relatively new, the practices that it implements are thousands of years old,” says Niels Eék, a psychologist and co-founder of Scandinavian mental health and self-development platform Remente. “In effect, the main purpose of mindfulness is to allow you to become more present and aware in everyday life and to maintain a non-reactive and non-judgmental state of awareness.”

When Georgia Ferris, who lives in Falkenberg, had children, she started collecting and buying lots of second-hand Lego for them. Instead of just watching them play, Ferris sits right next to them, building shops, museums, and cafes. “We build a lot together as a family, where each person has their own build, but we help each other find pieces, and might also build something together,” she says.

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Lego takes Ferris’ mind off the stress of balancing work and family life. “Dinner, washing or problems at work don’t matter anymore and all my focus is on getting the build complete, or figuring out how to solve a function or design I want to achieve,” she says. “The best is when the whole family can build together.”

Eék says “the ability to be distracted by a simple, rewarding task can pull you out of the negative headspace you are in and focus on the task at hand.” He references Lego Therapy as a treatment that has become known for helping those struggling with anxiety.

Time away from screens to play with Lego is a huge plus for mental health as well. “Glued to a series of digital screens all day with their blinking lights and flashing demands, our brains can be completely overloaded and therefore suffer stress,” says Eék. “Time spent away from your screen and playing can be immensely rewarding and calming.”

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Building with Lego has been a healing process for Malin Kylinger. At 39, Kylinger has been diagnosed with chronic pain from Endometriosis, autism, and ADHD. Five years ago, she started to make her own Lego creations, never using sets, and noticed how it immediately lowered her stress levels.

“I build creations that often are connected to my health and what I go through,” she says. “It was my way to process the struggle of daring to hope for a life without so much pain, it ended up not working out but building helped me to cope through some really tough days. It helps me focus on something other than my pain.”

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Kylinger has converted her dining room into a Lego and craft room and spends hours with her family creatively working on new builds. “My mind has a tendency to race and thoughts are hard to calm down, but Lego makes me concentrate so the rest of my mind can rest,” she says. “It's tactile and there are seldom mistakes you can't correct. My building has healed so much in me, and it gives me a place free of demands. I have tried so many ways to meditate and practice mindfulness, Lego makes it so much easier.”