For a Regina woman knitting is more than just a pastime, it’s a way to deal with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Michelle Rumscheidt moved to Regina a year ago to be closer to her son. That’s when she started going to the Regina Branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association.

She started taking knitting classes every Tuesday through the Canadian Mental Health Association.

“This is a place I know I am safe and it’s important for me to have places like that,” she said.

“For me, it’s a place where I can be real. Outside I feel as though I have to fake who I am and in here I walk through the doors and I can breathe. I can be me and I like that.”

Before moving to Regina, Rumscheidt worked as a youth mental health worker in British Columbia. It was an incident at work that triggered her PTSD.

“My daughter died in a car accident 20 years ago and it triggered a lot of that,” she said. “The WBC has deemed it would not be healthy to be in an environment anymore where I’m working.”

The Canadian Mental Health Association Regina branch says the group has over 1,100 members.

It gives an environment for people living with mental illness to receive support, nutritious meals and a safe place to socialize.

“We tend to hide out in our bedroom, whatever the case may be, within the long period of time we isolate ourselves,” Canadian Mental Health Association director of engagement Shannon Patton said. “This branch provides an avenue not to do that.”

Based on reporting by CTV’s Jackie Perez