Stamp Collecting as a Form of Therapy

We know fine art and writing can be used as a form of therapy to help the sick heal faster. But stamp collecting? I am convinced stamp collecting can also be used in this manner. The organization "Stamps for the Wounded" uses stamps to help wounded soldiers heal faster in hospitals. I have read numerous articles of parents using stamps to help their handicapped or autistic children gain a greater focus on finding their place in the world.

KNS gets emails from single parents using stamp collecting as a bridge to reconnect with children traumatized by the hurt of divorce. What better way to use stamps than as a healing instruments to help people put down their pain and find a surer path to peace.

Here is what we have learned from emails, communication and research:

* Stamps give people time to heal by concentrating on something more worthy than their pain

* Stamps provide new knowledge to victims about the beautiful world that surrounds them

* Stamps are tangible devices a patient can feel, touch, place, arrange and rearrange

* Stamps give people with no control a firm sense they have control after all

* Stamps provide entertainment through pursuit of their meaning and country of origin

Like most past times stamp collecting holds intrinsic value beyond the mere academic or entertainment tangents. There is an emotional, dare I say, psychological benefit from collecting colourful mementos from distant foreign lands. The mystery of collecting is a type of medicine to the ailing souls desperately in need of urgent intervention. Something must shake these scattered pieces back to a recognizable face. And I believe stamp collecting used as a form of therapy points the way back home.