:quality(85):upscale()/2025/10/30/789/n/49351082/2f8ae1c16903a6d17111d2.89433404_.png?ssl=1 "I Puzzled For Mental Health — Here’s What Happened")
Hi, my name is Chandler and I hate puzzles. Honestly, I don't know how I became like this. My mother often spends all mornings hunched over a puzzle board, happily assembling a 1,000-piece winter landscape. Meanwhile, I'm sitting somewhere nearby and looking at my phone. I like to think that we are equally pleased; she sorts the puzzle pieces by shade, and I scrolling through my FYP. But I'm starting to suspect that I might be missing something.
Gripped by these suspicions, I turned to a puzzle rental subscription service called Completing the Puzzle. The brand talks about puzzles not as boring work (as I would describe them), but as conscious hobby it can slow your thoughts down, reduce anxietyand serve as a mental reset (no screen). Intrigued by these supposed mental health benefits, I decided to try to understand my mental health for a whole week. Read on for the results of my mini puzzle experiment, as well as some helpful tips and takeaways from puzzle pros.
Why Puzzles?
Even though I grew up with puzzles, Katherine Manning didn't officially return to this hobby until she discovered that she needed a little digital detox. “Now I use riddles to avoid looking at the screen,” she says. “It’s almost meditative for me.” At the same time, Manning tries to solve puzzles in a peaceful environment, never rushing. One rainy day, she listened to all the Marvel films in chronological order, racking her brains. “I don’t exercise, I break my head for the sake of relaxation,” she explains.
“I don’t solve for sport, I solve for leisure.”
Rebecca Brunson describes a similar reintroduction to the mystery. Before she bought a holiday-themed puzzle at the store, she hadn't touched it for almost 10 years. But she quickly found herself hooked again, racking her brain during breakfast, staying up late to work on the puzzle, and searching for pieces throughout the day. “It occurred to me that I would use it for stress relief,” Brunson says. “Every time I got upset or something got too strong, all I wanted was [to] go solve my puzzle.”
Chloe Solein relates to these calming effects just like her grandmother. Soleine says they often puzzled over things together, often getting lost in them. Looking back, she suspects the hobby was a good way for her grandmother to find peace of mind. “Puzzling puzzles can require intense concentration, which in turn helps drown out internal noise,” says Solein. “You notice it when you're young, but it's definitely more rewarding as an adult.”
Tips from the Puzzle Pros
As I prepared to embark on my own puzzle journey, I asked these puzzle experts if they had any recommendations. Here are seven tips they would give to mysterious newbies like me:
- Walk slowly: There's no point in rushing through a puzzle, especially if you're trying to reap mental health benefits. “There’s no pressure to finish quickly,” Brunson says. “It's nice to just slow down and do something [your] leisure.”
- Start small: It may be tempting to assemble the most complex puzzle you can find, but Soleine recommends solving a puzzle with a couple hundred pieces first. “I went a little overboard and bought a huge puzzle when I got back into it a couple of years ago,” she says. “I never finished it.”
- Create a cozy, mysterious space: It's easier to guess about mental health if you have a place where you look forward to solving the mystery. “Turn on a podcast, play a movie. Something in the background that you can still listen to,” suggests Manning.
- Invest in quality puzzles“Not all puzzles are created equal, and it's frustrating when you get a cheap puzzle and the pieces don't quite fit together,” Brunson says. She loves the Eurographics brand (and I can also vouch for the Spilsbury puzzle I received as a result of the challenge).
- Don't force yourself to finish: It's okay if you don't like the puzzle you're working on. “Don't put too much pressure on yourself to complete every puzzle you start,” says Solein. “Life is too short to keep working on something you are no longer committed to.”
- Find puzzle styles you like“I think it's really important to find a style of puzzle that you enjoy solving because you're more likely to come back to it,” Brunson says. For example, Manning likes puzzles with color blocks, while Solaine prefers puzzles with cozy or holiday graphics.
- Working from the outside in: “Put the border together first,” advises Soleyn. “It's easier to see how [the puzzle] will come together and it will be less intimidating.”
My experience
This may sound stupid, but I was legitimately afraid of this experiment. I was feeling a little low and didn't want to give up my usual morning screen time. I also didn't have a puzzle board, so I had to work on top of old vinyl records (which actually turned out to be a great solution). In an attempt to motivate myself, I took the advice of the puzzle pros and set the stage: iced coffee, pumpkin candles, and Gilmore Girls on TV. Now, in full cozy mode, it was easier to start.
I started by finding all the edges in my 300 piece puzzle. But, to be honest, it didn’t bring much benefit. What worked best was sorting the puzzle pieces by color or pattern and then putting small pieces together at a time. At first, I often struggled with the urge to quit (or better yet, force the pieces together). But as the week went on, I found myself looking forward to screen-free mornings. The dopamine I got from piecing together even a small piece of the puzzle was much better than the twisting of fate I was used to. Time flew by and I noticed that I wished my mystery sessions were longer.
My conclusions
As a former puzzle hater, I feel like I've made a lot of progress in a short amount of time. While I was still a little frustrated by this perplexing experience, this experiment gave me a new mindful hobby to turn to—one that offered a much-needed respite from the internet. I definitely related to the puzzles that felt more grounded after being puzzled and was genuinely surprised that I found such a good thread within a week. I wouldn't call it a quick fix or a magic panacea, but overall, riddles have helped me feel happier, calmer, and clearer—all huge wins for my mental health.
Chandler Plant (she/her) is a social producer and staff writer for the health and fitness department at Popsugar. She has over five years of experience in the industry, having previously worked as an assistant editor at People magazine, social media manager at Millie magazine and a contributor at Bustle Digital Group. She earned a degree in magazine journalism from Syracuse University and lives in Los Angeles.
