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Art & Mental Health
Cheapest Therapy Ever!
***This post is geared towards art and mental health for individuals experiencing day to day stress and anxiety. If you are experiencing more serious forms of mental health and illness, please seek the help of a licensed professional. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.***
Art and mental health have gone hand in hand for quite while. The stigma of mental health and illness is gradually receding and mental health awareness has been on the rise for some time now. Treatment is becoming more mainstream and accepted. There are dozens of commercials currently on TV for prescriptions, apps, and services for mental health and illness.
Once upon a time, nobody spoke of even the mildest forms of stress, depression, or anxiety. And conditions like bi-polar disorder, psychosis, and schizophrenia were hidden away as something shameful for the family, not just the patient.
It wasn’t until the 1940’s that mental health professionals starting using art as a means of treating their patients. Today, you need a master’s degree to become a licensed art therapist. That should tell you that art and mental health legitimately work well together.
Sometimes speaking about troubling things out loud is hard for some people, especially those who have endured trauma. They physically cannot bring themselves to speak about the horrors and tragedies of their lives. Art offers an outlet and a unique means of communication.
Many patients are able to convey their traumas in paints, clay, markers, etc. The beauty of this method is that the patient doesn’t have to be an artist in order for it to be effective. Just getting the trauma out of them in this way is healing.
Art and mental health on a personal level
You don’t have to be actively seeking or undergoing therapy to take advantage of art for your own mental health. We all have day to day stress. Many of us experience mild depression or anxiety and many times we can handle it and work through it with activities like meditation or exercise. Some will go for a soak in a hot bubble bath with candles and soft…
