Art is a way to express yourself and your emotions. It’s a mode to forget the reality of this world and get yourself emerged in a new world created by your sheer creativity and by you alone. That world is limitless, and the possibilities are endless. Expressing your self helps relax and to get rid of all your stress.

Many scientific studies have concluded that art helps to get rid off depression and anxiety. However, it enables you to forget the dark days of your past. It even helps with patients suffering from chronic mental illnesses such as Alzheimer’s and dementia.

Art Therapy

Typically when we think about art, the first thought that hits our head is painting or drawing. But there are many different types of art forms such as dancing, sculpting, storytelling, acting, and many more. These different types of arts are the basis of art therapy, also known as creative therapy. It is a different approach to treatment in which you express your feelings in an artistic way.  Moreover, it can help enhance the effect of depression treatment.

Creative therapy includes:

• Drawing, Painting, and sculpting
• Dance or movement therapy
• Drama Therapy
• Music therapy

Art therapy helps kids and adults to explore their emotions and to advance their self-esteem. Yes, it helps in relieving stress, improving anxiety, and depression. It gives strength to cope with a physical illness or disability.

How does Art Therapy work?

Art therapy works on simple psychology, and that is expressing. Through arts, you can show your emotions, and your internal feelings which lead to accepting that there is hope and whatever you are suffering from can be fixed. It helps you explore your inner sense of love and sympathy. However, that’s essential for a person suffering from depression.

These feelings can kill their grieve and agony and provide them with a third eye to see the world. The way they have never looked at it before.

All of this happy and joyful feeling makes the person realize that there is a lot to this world, and they are missing out.

Some studies have shown that art decreases the levels of stress hormones in the body. It makes you feel determined and proud. For some people, art is a way to sculpt their thoughts and build with their feelings.

Relation of Art and your Brain

Art brings creativity to a person. But what is taking place in their brains when they think what to bring out? When a painter picks up a paintbrush or a dancer takes a position on the stage. Every single part of their brain starts communicating with each other. They make visual thoughts and different feelings. However, during the process, you begin to use the part of the brain that you do not frequently use, maybe the part that controls critical thinking.

All this Communication helps the brain to evolve and make a new perception of the world. It throws away depression from the body. It helps you to feel confident and courageous. Moreover, it makes your relationship with people better, and it makes you make rational decisions. Just by drawing, you will start to be more polite and helpful to others.

Brain-Boosting Effects

It has been seen that the people who do creative arts are less likely to develop mental illnesses such as Alzheimer’s disease. People who can play an instrument have better brain functions than an ordinary human brain. Those who write stories have sharp memory even in old age, and due to their healthy minds, they develop fewer diseases because their immune system is better than other people.

Creativity can also be a perfect workout, and this workout brings its own set of benefits. For example, a study focusing on breast cancer survivors stated that dancing assisted in improving shoulder functionalities in participants and that it had a positive impact on their body image. However, dancing releases dopamine in your body that is a hormone that makes you happy and joyful.

How Is Art Helping Children?

Many children in the US are born with some kind of mental disability such as ADHD, OCD, or learning disability, etc. According to the CDC (Centers for disease control and prevention), about 7.4% of children in the US are born with mental disabilities or problems. These problems can be cured with art therapy in early. Providing the children to do something that engages him or her can help make a difference. However, it can boost up the effect of the hour-long session with the therapist.

Art helps children to express their feelings. Mostly children tend to hide their feelings from parents. But while drawings, they don’t hesitate to draw what they are feeling and what they are going through. Arts help them to get free from the burden of sorrow and agony. Moreover, it helps their parents to understand what their child has been through.

Arts Help in Communication

People who face problems with expressing their thoughts and emotions may turn to drugs or alcohol as a way to escape reality. Arts help these people to get over their addiction by adopting a hobby that helps them feel better. People start to get over their habits. They try to climb the ladder of professionalism and struggle. However, which becomes easier for them than before. Art therapy helps the person to learn a healthy lifestyle and to be focused.

These changes make the person communicate better and more professionally. For some people, art therapy reduces speech disorders, such as stuttering. Art therapy adopts self-expression and can help mature communication skills and the ability to reach out to others. A small change in lifestyle can make your brain healthy and reliable again.

Art is a helpful distraction

Distractions from an addiction can be very redeeming and refreshing. Art therapy can help people to concentrate on the positive. It does so by keeping their minds off of their desires and negative thoughts. Sometimes distractions are essential, like, after a bad trauma, everyone wants to forget about it. Moreover, arts help you to distract your self from that kind of troubling memory.

Art is a process, not something you come up with instantly. Each brushstroke requires you to think hard and helps be distracted from the cruelty of this world.

Conclusion

Art therapy is not everybody’s cup of tea. It is not appropriate for people who cannot express themselves through art. But this is nothing to be worried about because there are other forms of therapies out there. People who have gone through an art therapy session have seen significant recoveries that a typical session with a therapist. It brings out the creative personality of the person that was buried deep down in their body.

So art is an expression just like feelings; it can be jolly or sad. Art can convey meanings that are tough to understand because it’s a fresh idea from the brain. It shows the complexity of a person’s mind.

External Links

• Learn more benefits of art therapy from https://elevationbehavioralhealth.com/9-benefits-art-therapy/
• Physical health benefits due to art https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320947#Physical-health-benefits
• How creativity erases depression https://www.everydayhealth.com/hs/major-depression/creative-therapies/
• How is art being used to heal people? For more information visit https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-art-therapy-2795755