The Research
Anything that engages your creative mind — the ability to make connections between unrelated things and imagine new ways to communicate is good for you.”
- Girija Kaimal, professor at Drexel University and a researcher in art therapy
Relieving Stress in Healthcare Professionals
​
While many health care facilities offer well-being programs for staff, expressive art programs are considered to be among the most effective when it comes to coping with symptoms of burnout and anxiety.
For more than 30 years, studies have shown the benefits of incorporating the arts into wellness and mental health programs. In 2019, the World Health Organization published a scoping review that provided significant evidence of the role of the arts on improving health and well-being.
Studies conducted in 2007 by Repar and Patton demonstrated that arts programs can lower rates of tension, anger, depression, and fatigue—symptoms of burnout and compassion fatigue.
The Neuroscience of Art-making
For a lot of people, making art can be nerve-wracking. What are you going to make? What kind of materials should you use? What if you can’t execute it? What if it isn’t good?
Studies show that despite those fears, “engaging in any sort of visual expression results in the reward pathway in the brain being activated,” says Kaimal. “Which means that you feel good and it’s perceived as a pleasurable experience.”
Although the research in the field of art therapy is emerging, there’s evidence that making art can lower stress and anxiety. In a 2016 paper in the Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, Kaimal and a group of researchers measured cortisol levels of 39 healthy adults. Cortisol is a hormone that helps the body respond to stress.
​
They found that 45 minutes of creating art in a studio setting with an art therapist significantly lowered cortisol levels.
The paper also showed that there were no differences in health outcomes between people who identify as experienced artists and people who don’t. So that means that no matter your skill level, you’ll be able to feel all the good things that come with making art.
Art And Stress Reduction
On the U.S. National Institute of Health’s (NIH) website, according to the extensive research publication The Connection Between Art, Healing, and Public Health: A Review of Current Literature by Heather L. Stuckey, DEd and Jeremy Nobel, MD, “Engagement with creative activities has the potential to contribute toward reducing stress and depression and can serve as a vehicle for alleviating the burden of chronic disease.” They also stated, “Through creativity and imagination, we find our identity and our reservoir of healing. The more we understand the relationship between creative expression and healing, the more we will discover the healing power of the arts.”
During self-isolation due to coronavirus, many people turned to the arts. Perhaps they sought a creative outlet or opportunity for expression, but it’s also possible that their attraction may be driven by an innate desire to use their brains in ways that make them feel good.
Mental health issues affect nearly half of the global population, at some point, by age 40. Add to that, recent challenges of the pandemic for maintaining mental wellness, managing fears, and uncertainty, and one thing is clear: it’s time to think differently when it comes to how we engage our minds.
In another study, cognitive neuroscientists found that creating art reduces cortisol levels (markers for stress), and that through art people can induce positive mental states. These studies are part of a new field of research, called neuroesthetics: the scientific study of the neurobiological basis of the arts.
Neuroesthetics uses brain imaging, brain wave technology, and biofeedback to gather scientific evidence of how we respond to the arts. Through this, there is physical, scientific evidence that the arts engage the mind in novel ways, tap into our emotions in healthy ways, and make us feel good.