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Why is art beneficial to mental health?
Studies have shown that expression through art can help people with depression, anxiety, and stress. Art has also been linked to improved memory, reasoning, and resilience in aging adults. We’re diving into the powerful impact art can have on your life. Drawing — and other forms of art — can help you release stress and anxiety. You can draw at home to boost your imagination and creativity, be more mindful and grounded, and relieve anxious thoughts. You can also work with an art therapist to help you manage mental health conditions or trauma. In general, studies in this review found that creative activity: has a positive impact on our sense of hope, self-worth, and well-being. improves our sense of connectedness and widens our social networks. decreases depression and anxiety and reduces stress. Artists create art that conveys to us how they think and feel about things. Artists use different lines, shapes, and colors to express their feelings. Every artist chooses their own colors, lines and shapes that are meaningful for them. Learn more about Expressionism as an artist movement HERE.
How does art connect to mental health?
In another study, cognitive neuroscientists found that creating art reduces cortisol levels (markers for stress), and that through art people can induce positive mental states. Many people benefit from Art, primarily because of its psychological link and also by using art therapy. It is known to help numerous older adults with memory diseases, as well as to help people with post-traumatic stress disorder. Art can also help with depression, anxiety, stress and trauma. Depression and Art Therapy Art therapy provides an individual who is feeling pressured or overwhelmed with an opportunity to slow down and explore the issues that are occurring in their life. It provides them with a way to manage their behavior, reduce anxiety, process feelings, and destress. Art can communicate information, shape our everyday lives, make a social statement and be enjoyed for aesthetic beauty.
Why does art relieve stress?
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that often is low in patients with anxiety, depression, and excessive stress. Because art therapy has been seen to help increase these dopamine levels and help a patient feel happier, it is also an excellent choice for people with mental illnesses, such as chronic depression and anxiety. Art gives a feeling of joy and boosts a good mood. Artwork fosters the feeling of relaxation, creativity, and inspiration. Any form of creativity can reduce the stress hormone cortisol and encourage the good hormones endorphins and dopamine in our brains. Benefits of Art Therapy But art therapy holds specific benefits for those suffering from a wide spectrum of mental illnesses. Under the guidance of a trained expert, art therapy can help improve various mental and physical symptoms, bringing significant relief and promoting recovery from debilitating mental disorders. Art in any form, whether while creating or observing, reduces the stress hormone called cortisol. It also releases the feel-good hormones called endorphins which help you combat stress and pain. By letting you enjoy a sense of fulfillment, it transforms you into a more positive, well-rounded human being. It helps with exploring confused or difficult thoughts and feelings. It can encourage positive feelings too. People enjoy the control and expressive qualities of making art. Sharing experiences with a trained art therapist is supportive.
Why does art make us feel better?
The scans show that viewing art triggered a surge of dopamine, the happy chemical, into the brain, which results in feelings of pleasure and satisfaction. The artwork makes available an emotion through which our thoughts, absorption, or even curiosity transform. In a work like Untitled (Black Blue Painting), the transformation exists in the movement from darkness to light. Art and Emotion. One central feature of aesthetic experiences is their ability to arouse emotions in perceivers. It feels natural to experience joy, pleasure shivers down the spine, awe in sight of grandiose artworks, or sometimes even negative emotions of fear, anger or disgust in front of visually challenging stimuli … There are six functions that art fulfills. It is for delight, persuasion, self-expression, worship and ritual and commentary.
Why is art good for your brain?
There is increasing evidence in rehabilitation medicine and the field of neuroscience that art enhances brain function by impacting brain wave patterns, emotions, and the nervous system. Art can also raise serotonin levels. These benefits don’t just come from making art, they also occur by experiencing art. Artists provide creative, intellectual and emotional insights into society at large, impacting the masses and challenging the status quo. Art helps cultures unite and boosts economic growth—helping the world become a prettier, better and happier place to live in. Art gives us the ability to express ourselves in ways that nothing else can. Self-expression allows us to understand ourselves and process our emotions. Research conducted at the Georgetown Behavioral Health Institute confirms that self-expression in the arts positively affects mood, function, cognition, and behavior. Art does not show people what to do, yet engaging with a good work of art can connect you to your senses, body, and mind. It can make the world felt. And this felt feeling may spur thinking, engagement, and even action. It can be used to communicate ideas and thoughts; it can be used as a tool for self-expression, used as a form of therapy, or even as a means to find beauty in life. Art also captures a moment in time, historical events, social ideas and concepts, and political or social commentary.
How does art reduce stress and anxiety?
The theory behind art therapy suggests drawing, coloring, painting, and sculpting can help you tune into and express painful or difficult feelings you have trouble putting into words. Drawing and coloring can be a helpful tool for anyone seeking new ways to manage anxiety symptoms. Drawing — and other forms of art — can help you release stress and anxiety. You can draw at home to boost your imagination and creativity, be more mindful and grounded, and relieve anxious thoughts. You can also work with an art therapist to help you manage mental health conditions or trauma. Art therapy works to heal anxiety through helping us feel a sense of calm, express ourselves, and become more self-aware. As part of a comprehensive treatment plan, art therapy may be a truly transformative treatment option for those who seek healing from anxiety disorders. All art can broaden knowledge, give enjoyment, and challenge our assumptions; but it can also help soothe, calm, enlighten, and uplift the mind and spirit. Even art that leaves us uncomfortable can still help us to think differently and give us new perspective. Art evokes emotions, whether they are happy or sad, disturbing or exciting. Art makes you feel, and art makes you think. Pieces of art can make you question not only the artist’s interpretation or message, but also your own feelings.
Does art calm the mind?
There is a positive connection between art and mental health—artistic activities such as sculpting, painting, or drawing are known to lower stress levels and promote mental calmness. Creating art takes your mind off of your everyday life and provides a relaxing distraction. Art therapy is recognized as a mental health profession that uses the creative process of involvement in making art to improve physical, mental, and emotional well-being. The self-expression involved in making art is seen to help people manage conflict and stress and increase self-esteem, self-awareness, and insight. 1) Art can broaden your perspective. When you’re able to think creatively it can open you up to finding new solutions you otherwise wouldn’t have thought of. “It’s like looking at an image upside down, to see it for what it is and not just as the image your eye is “trained” to see. Specifically, engaging with visual art has been found to activate different parts of the brain other than those taxed by logical, linear thinking; and another study found that visual art activated distinct and specialized visual areas of the brain. Drawing increases many of the cognitive functions that researches typically label as the ‘creative’ and ‘right brained’ activities. Intuition increases. Produces positive brain chemistry like Serotonin, Endorphins, Dopamine, and Norepinephrine. Your brain stem can actually get thicker. Art instruction helps children with the development of motor skills, language skills, social skills, decision-making, risk-taking, and inventiveness. Visual arts teach learners about color, layout, perspective, and balance: all techniques that are necessary in presentations (visual, digital) of academic work.