What are the mental health benefits of art?
How does art help with stress relief?
There has been so much research around this subject that I keep on coming back to this profound experience of art as a healing tool. Art making can include painting, drawing, writing, sculpting, building, anything that involves a creative act. Among the many benefits are:
~ Making art keeps you firmly in the present moment (free from worry about the future or the past)
~ Making art opens new neural pathways in the brain (helps with aging)
~ Making art allows us to problem solve creatively (helpful in the workplace)
~Making art gives you another form of self expression (especially in a therapeutic setting)
~ Making art connects you to humanity on a deeper more spiritual level
The State of Mental Health according to the WHO
According to an article in the American Scientist magazine published July-August 2020, on How Art Can Heal, the statistics are staggering: “One-fourth of the global population is at risk of developing a mental health challenge in their lifetime, and one-fifth of children and adolescents could develop mental health problems, according to a 2014 World Health Organization report. Wars, adversity, discrimination, natural disasters, and illnesses such as COVID-19 further exacerbate these unmet needs for psychosocial support.” This is why it is critical that we find ways in which we face these challenges early enough in order to avert a mental health crisis. Humans have always (from cave painters time) had a need for artistic expression and “as an imaginative tool for adapting to changing condition and solving problems.”
how stress shows up in the body
Reaction to stress within the body may increase your heart-rate and elevate blood pressure. When people participate in art they have related feelings of relaxation and a sense of liberation, not unlike the effects of meditation. This experience is across the board from those who are just starting out to those with more art experience. Read more on my previous BLOG HERE where I talk about The Experience Life Study and the testing of cortisol levels in saliva before and after a creative endeavor. Fascinating!!!
Art as Meditation
Do you have to be an experienced artist to enjoy these benefits?
Absolutely not!! I believe that everyone is innately creative. Somewhere along the line, a teacher/parent/friend told you that you weren’t good enough to be an artist, so you gave it up, believing that you were being frivolous and non deserving of the experience.
Art Making as therapeutic tool
According to the American Scientist article, Professional art therapy began in the mid 20th century as a restorative practice that allowed people to express themselves in nonverbal ways. This came about from a great need to serve the soldiers of the world wars, suffering from PTSD.
Humans have always (from cave painters time) had a need for artistic expression and “as an imaginative tool for adapting to changing condition and solving problems.”
Now as we have had to adapt to the changing home and work environment due to the pandemic, this statement rings true. We have had to be creative in ways that we never knew we could, in order to face new challenges.