Creative Activity for Mental Health
âArt is to console those who are broken by life.â -Vincent Van Gogh
What do Art Therapy and Dance Therapy have in common?
Theyâre both ways to express emotions and feelings that seem impossible to let go of with simple conversation. Deep-rooted fears, frustrations and trauma are difficult to share. Talking therapy helps some of the time, but other times it doesnât.
Art Therapy is a technique used with people that havenât found a way to transfer emotional energy out of their bodies and minds. It helps them channel sensations that they canât put into words. The same applies to Dance Therapy. Free creative physical movements loosen up the energy flow in their bodies to the point where they tend to yell at the top of their lungs or even cry. Yoga has this effect on some people as well.
But for some people, Art Therapy isnât a thing theyâre offered as a solution for something they canât let go of. For creative people, Art Therapy is their oxygen. The difference is that we donât call it Art Therapy. Art is simply a lifeline. Being creative is the only way we can maintain healthy mental wellbeing within our lives. Itâs the only way to not crack under the pressure of responsibilities and life itself.
Iâve learned over the years that there are two things that I canât stop doing if I want to feel relatively balanced emotionally:
I canât ever forget to take my iron pills.
I canât let more than a few days pass without filling a page in my sketchbook.
The last time I realized this, it had been a year that the sketchbooks and markers had been sitting collecting dust. I also felt constantly fatigued, my ears were ringing and nothing made any sense. My anemia was destroying my will to push through!
I can tell you here and now that I was not in a great place emotionally. This combination of low iron and dusty sketchbooks has happened a few times already and Iâve recently vowed to never let it happen again.
Art Therapy
The term Art Therapy was coined in the 1940s when Adrian Hill used art to help fellow tuberculosis survivors pass the time in isolation. Edward Admonson then integrated the practice into mental hospitals in the 1960s when lobotomies were usual practice to cure mental illness.
If youâre trying to picture this era in history, read the book âOne flew over the cuckooâs nestâ or watch the movie with Jack Nicholson. You can also get a glimpse of this dark era for mental illness in the Netflix series Ratched.
The 70s brought along a new style of Art Therapy. Psychotherapists incorporated creative output activities with psychedelics. LSD and Psylocibin Art Therapy sessions gave doctors a wider idea of how creativity can help the human brain to cope and assimilate.
The conversation about psychedelics and art is another huge topic I might tackle in another edition of Epically Creative. Let me know if youâd be interested.
Is The Link Between Mental Illness and Creativity a Myth?
I started off this piece by talking about how Art Therapy helps people with troubled minds and souls to heal through creative activity. But what I havenât mentioned yet is how itâs ingrained into modern culture that mental illness and creativity are linked in the opposite direction.
Psychotherapists have tried to prove that the majority of artists or creative types are more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety, bipolar and dissociative disorders. It hasnât been definitively proven to be so. In doing some research for this piece I found an article in The Scientific American that had an interesting view on the subject. Iâd suggest you go and read it if this topic interests you. Itâs too long to summarize here.
But what has definitely been proven to be 100% true, is that being creative helps humans find their own voices, their personal happiness and positive energy flow.
Common Stories of Mentally Ill Artists
Vincent Van Gogh
If you need one example of how art is therapy for a wounded soul, just take a look at the life and work of Vincent Van Gogh. Itâs not surprising that his art is a favorite with many creatives and non-creatives alike. You can feel the emotional stress in his paint strokes and colors.
Itâs believed Van Gogh suffered from some sort of bipolar disorder or even epilepsy. Most of the famous art pieces like Starry Night and Sunflowers were painted while he was in an asylum to treat his mental illness episodes. Painting incessantly helped him survive every day until finally his mental illness won the battle and he committed suicide.
If you want to learn more about Van Gogh and his life, read the letters he wrote to his brother Theo. The book, âA Life in Lettersâ is a must if youâre interested in the connection between art and mental illness
Edvard Munch
Another example of how art and mental illness collide is Edward Munch. His most famous work, The Scream, is a clear indication of how art is capable of transmitting feelings. Even though heâs well known for that one painting, his work is much more prolific and inspiring. He spent the last 27 years of his life in isolation, creating incessantly and finally died alone.
These are the two most famous âmentally ill artistsâ but there are many others, Mark Rothko transmitted his depression onto his full red color paintings. Paul Cezanne disliked his paintings so much he would destroy them after working on them for months. Jackson Pollock literally threw his mania onto his canvases.
Itâs notable how we remember these artists from their work through mental illness. But we canât forget all those that are also masters of creativity without having any mental illness.
What I can tell you to be true though, is that every creative person uses creativity as a lifeline, anchor, and directional map to traverse life.
Daily Dose of Creativity
For artists and creatives that work in the field of the arts, design, and creative expression; being creative every day isnât something they need to worry about. Itâs simply part of their daily existence.
For creative people that work jobs that donât inspire them and leave them feeling frustrated and sad, daily creativity is a must. Never leave your creativity behind even if life has handed you a lemon. Climb through it by staying creative!
People that donât believe to be creative have a creative spark somewhere inside them. It might not be anatomical drawing but maybe itâs flower arranging, bubble wrap sculpture, gardening or fast rap.
Creativity has no limits. Use creativity as your personal therapy.
Let it guide you in unexpected directions!