Whether it’s painting, drawing, sculpting, cooking, knitting, sewing, writing, singing, playing music or dancing; the arts play a big role in our overall mental and physical health as well as our communities.
Creativity can be seen by some, perhaps in past few decades, as frivolous. But there is evidence to show that creativity helps our mental health and our stress management.
Art therapy, music therapy, and many creative therapies have been found to have a benefit to inpatient care. Art therapy has been gradually and successfully used to reduce suffering from disorders such as depression, anxiety, cognitive impairment and dementias, Alzheimer's disease, and schizophrenia. And creative activities can help promote knowledge and positive behaviours in children and young people.
For me personally, I realised in my ongoing journey of mental health recovery, that the days I didn’t create were the days I felt disconnected and more likely to experience intrusive thoughts or unhealthy coping strategies. Moreover, writing or drawing helps me see something new about my own thought process or feelings, it helps unblock something I’m struggling to communicate to myself let alone to others. As a person who has lived with mental illness most of my life, I’ve encountered many types of therapies. Many people are aware of common therapies used to treat mental health conditions like Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, psychotherapy and group therapy. Alongside these, particularly in inpatient care, can comfortably sit more creative pursuits as therapy.
Creating doesn’t need to be for the sake of showing it to others. Creating is a way of showing ourselves to ourselves. It is expressing ourselves and exploring what it means to be human.
Managing our own mental health, our physical health, and importantly our stress levels can be improved by getting a bit creative.
Here’s 7 ways to get started:
- Be mindful - Engaging in creative activities can promote mindfulness, which can help reduce stress levels. Focusing on the present moment and the creative process can help reduce anxiety and promote relaxation, and promote positive emotions and decrease cortisol levels, a hormone related to stress.
- Find a distraction - Creative activities can be a healthy distraction from stressors and worries. Engaging in a creative task can help shift the focus away from negative thoughts and promote feelings of accomplishment and satisfaction. Creative art helps us cope with physical health problems and can be a valuable method to improve depression, anxiety and stress if you suffer with a condition such as stroke as it helps promote relaxation and calmness
- Enter the 'flow state' - Engaging in creative pursuits can trigger a flow state, a state of complete absorption in the present. This mindfulness pushes worries and anxieties to the background, promoting relaxation and lowering stress hormones like cortisol.
- Expressing emotions - Art and creativity can be a way to express emotions and release feelings of stress and tension. It can be an outlet for emotions that may be difficult to express in words. Art can be used as a therapeutic tool to help people and patients open up, share feelings, views and experiences as an indirect but clear form of communication.
- Self-care - Engaging in creative activities can be a form of self-care, promoting feelings of self-worth and self-esteem. A 2021 study showed that engaging in creative pursuits was associated with greater well-being and lower stress levels during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Helping structure your time - Creative projects can provide a sense of purpose and structure, helping to reducing anxiety about time management, giving you something to look forward to and providing a consistent plan for your brain and body a way to reduce stress built up through the day, week or month.
- Social connection - Participating in group creative activities or sharing one's art with others can promote social connection and reduce feelings of isolation and loneliness. Going to the theatre, dancing, a concert or a comedy show can all help promote feelings of community and connection, which many of us have been lacking in the last few years and can have a positive impact on stress management and mental health.
Many studies suggest that engaging in art and creative activities can have physiological effects that reduce stress and promote well-being. Whether through formal art therapy programs or informal creative hobbies, incorporating creativity into a stress management routine can be a beneficial way to reduce stress levels. And we have lived through very stressful times of late.
Research conducted by international agencies such as the UK’s DFID and the World Bank have shown that open and inclusive societies are most successful at promoting growth and stable development in the long term.
The power of creativity to reduce stress is multifaceted. From providing outlets for self-expression to inducing meditative flow states, creative pursuits offer a diverse number of stress-reduction benefits. They enable us to reframe perspectives, regulate emotions, and engage in calming practices that ground us in the present moment. The beauty of using creativity for stress reduction and management lay in its accessibility and versatility.
As we navigate an increasingly complex world, integrating creative practices into our lives help us to cultivate resilience, foster personal growth, and develop a more nuanced understanding of ourselves and our surroundings. It can be easily incorporated into daily routines and adapted to various life circumstances. In essence, creativity offers more than just a temporary escape from stress; it provides a transformative approach to managing life's challenges, promoting overall well-being, and enhancing our quality of life.
