People who suffer from mental health issues cope with it in many different ways. Some people rely on medication for treatment while others might seek out help from a therapist or psychologist. What many individuals fail to realize is that you may not be able to find solace from others in such a desperate time in need; you might only find true happiness by receiving help from yourself alone. Anyone who suffers from depression or anxiety might wonder how they can begin to better themselves. This may seem like an impossible task for those who struggle daily with mental health issues. However, the solution may not be so difficult to find. Some people who have suffered from mental health issues have found happiness again in a place they would never think to find happiness in: the kitchen.

Depression and anxiety can hit anyone at any given time. These illnesses can take over someone’s life, without any true realization about what is occurring.

“I was suffering from anxiety and I didn’t even know it yet,” said Amanda Bartle, a cashier and baker at Dessert Deli in Amherst, NY. “Before I started working at Dessert Deli, I would feel anxious and stressed constantly. It was just normal to me.”

Bartle is a 21-year-old woman residing in West Seneca, NY. She is currently working towards getting her associate’s degree in dental hygiene from ECC. Ever since she could remember, she had struggled with everyday tasks, dating back to as early as elementary school.

“I know it sounds so weird that I remember this, but I remember going to school in like third grade thinking to myself, what if I can’t learn what everyone else is learning? What if I have to pretend I know what my teacher is talking about just so I seem like everyone else?’”

Once Bartle turned 16, she had to worry about the stress of finding a job. She goes on to say that she was nervous to get a job in customer service, as she would have to make sure she did a good job with all her tasks to keep the customers happy. Bartle applied to Dessert Deli unsure of herself. Little did she know that it would be one of the best decisions of her life.

“While baking may not be my career forever, it is something I will cherish for the rest of my life,” she says. “Baking calms my nerves better than anything I can think of. Once I start baking, then decorating the cake, I become so focused on what I am doing. Anything else that has been bothering me goes away. It’s like I forget to think about it because I am just so into what I am doing with my work.”

Many people might think that decorating a cake can actually be stressful, especially if it is a cake with small, intricate designs. So how can it actually destress one who already suffers from anxiety? Doctor and psychology professor at SUNY Buffalo State, Pamela Schuetze, has a reason to offer as to why Bartle and many others feel the way they do about baking.

“Baking cakes like other hobbies help people to clear their mind,” she says. “Hobbies can also reduce stress levels and work like meditation by slowing heart rate and respiration rate, which happens when people are paying close attention to something.”

Schuetze offered many other reasons as to why baking could help someone suffering from any mental health illness.

“Hobbies also provide a sense of purpose which may be missing in some individuals with anxiety or depression,” she states.

Maria Gasper, a 26-year-old woman residing in Depew, NY has no professional experience with baking, but yet the activity has had a major impact on her mental health.

“I am currently separated from my husband, and trying to get used to the whole single parent life,” states Gasper. “Trying to figure out activities for my son and I to do became a struggle. We didn’t have much in common, and I started to feel like I was failing as a parent.”

Gasper bravely tells that she had tried to go to multiple therapists after her separation. However, after siting through countless sessions she found that she did not feel any better after speaking with them. Hopelessly, she continued to try to get through her depression for three months.

After those three long months, Gasper explains with joy in her voice how her life suddenly changed for the better.

“I remember Ben, my son, coming into the kitchen watching me mix cake batter I bought earlier that day,” she states. “He asked me what I was doing, and then asked if he could help. With joy, I said of course, and he actually did. He helped me pour the batter into the pans, helped me clean the bowls by licking them clean, and even helped me decorate the cake. In that moment, I felt like we had something to truly bond over.”

Gasper and her son now have a tradition where they bake a cake together every other weekend. Like Dr. Schuetze stated could happen when people try baking, the hobby made Gasper feel like she now had a purpose, and gave her hope that depression never lasts.

While baking is known to help people through their issues with mental health, what happens with the people that try baking, and just become more frustrated with the activity?

Cassandra DiLorenzo, former baker of Molinaro’s Restaurant located in Lockport, NY has advice to offer to those whose are struggling with their mental health and baking at the same time.

“Baking is an art and should be treated as so,” she states. “People who are using baking to cope with mental health should take their time and always appreciate the work they do and put care into what they do.”

While depression and anxiety are illnesses that seem impossible to cope with, there is always a way. Baking and cake decorating may have not helped every single person that has tried it, but it has changed many lives. The worst thing anyone could do is ignore their mental health. While many people might think baking is just a hobby that means absolutely nothing, to others it is an activity that saved their lives from a long road of depression and hopelessness.