Get Creative With Mental Wellness

Think back to the last time you molded clay, concocted slime, drew a picture, decorated a room…any one of your favorite creative ventures. Which senses did you involve? Was it relaxing or energizing? Did you join others in the experience or focus on your imagination? How did you feel once you’d completed your goal?

This past weekend I baked and decorated a cake, eager to try my hand at some of the techniques I’d seen in step-by-step videos that make everything look so easy. I may not have the skills of a master confectioner, but I did feel satisfaction, focus, and a release of energy from the 4 hour—that’s right, it took FOREVER—baking/decorating marathon. This is what I want to address today: how art benefits your mental health.

As a mental health and co-occurring disorders therapist, I do not specialize in art therapy, but I do appreciate how creativity positively impacts our mental health. What I do know about art therapy is that it’s about expression, engaging all senses, and tapping into places talking often cannot.  It’s a powerful therapy modality that I don’t intend to get into here, but it got me thinking that if art is used in therapy (something I believe in so strongly) it must be good for you outside of therapy!

 Here are the 5 ways doing art can benefit your mental health:

1. Self-Esteem—Plain and simple; it feels so good to complete a project successfully. Whether it’s a paint by numbers or five foot bronze sculpture, you can feel good about the work you did. If you’re just getting started, your skills can improve with practice increasing self-esteem as you see your work getting better. This further amplifies when others appreciate your work.

I received so many compliments for the steampunk pumpkin centerpieces I made for my wedding. All of them left with guests and the wedding party.  I still feel so good about the work I did and how beautiful they came out.

2. Stress reduction—Color a mandala, experiment with water colors, create a floral arrangement, or piece together a scrapbook. Something that has repetition can be particularly soothing. When you’re fully engaged in your art, you’re in the present moment, reducing the ability to reach into the future and examine the “what ifs” that support stress. Pairing art with mindfulness is an opportunity to use both for stress reduction.

3. Social Connection—There are so many ways we can use art to connect with others—reducing isolation. You can go to one time events such as a paint night, join a local club focusing on knitting, take a non-credit course to improve your craft, or engages friends and family in a craft night. All of these bring you in physical contact with others. There are options digitally as well. Groups on social media share ideas and finished works of art to develop conversation and camaraderie around artwork of different kinds.

4. Energy Release—You can definitely work out pent-up physical energy through art as much of it can be tactile. Emotional energy can also be released through self-expression. You have control over the art you create putting power in place of fear so that you can be free to express what words cannot. Before I baked and decorated by cake this weekend, I was buzzing with the anticipation of creating it for a couple of weeks. I worked out the energy once I took on the challenge. I feel it charging up again and I’ll have to get back to my baking pans to do it once more.

5. Redirected Thinking—Art tends to require attention and concentration. You may have to plan out your next move with each new step to a project or keep track of how many times you’ve completed a certain action. By taking your attention and concentration, art can free your mind from negative thoughts that fuel various mental health disorders and cause decline. Additionally, coupled with the increase of self-esteem, you can also utilize your pride in your work as a positive counter to negative self-talk.

I’d like to end on some suggestions for getting started in making art a part of your regular self-care:

• Start a Pintrest board to gather ideas and how to’s
• Get into cosplay by making costumes, armor, and fake weapons
• Join a crafting group at your local library or community center
• Purchase low-cost supplies if you’re uncertain of what you’d enjoy to allow you to try it first
• Start back where you left off on a previous art project or hobby
• Don’t limit your art expression to traditional modalities—paint shoes, sculpt fondant, mold chocolate, create mash ups, think three dimensional, try big and small…whatever it is, make sure you’re doing it for you and the way you want to do it.

Art is beneficial for our mental health as a means of increasing self-esteem, reducing stress, connecting socially, releasing energy, and redirecting thinking. Adding art to your self-care toolbox is a great way of engaging most or all of your senses in your recovery and management of mental illness, or maintaining mental wellness. Get out there and create! Share your creations in the comments on Twitter with me!

Disclaimer—As mentioned above, I do not specialize in art therapy and am not referring to art therapy techniques in this post. As always, this blog and posts therein are not intended as medical or clinical advice. 

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