This year’s mental health awareness week will take place from 15th – 21st May 2023 and the theme this year is Anxiety. A normal emotion which all of us experience at times but uncontrolled can lead to risks of mental health issues and this theme hopes to help highlight this problem by letting sufferers know they are not alone, that there is help and that they can get through these times. As an art PR Agency that cares about our clients and their messages we know how valuable art can be for mental health benefits. There are ways to help deal with these problems and the link at the end of the article gives some useful tips.
Does art help mental health?
Mental health has been a massive part of art for generations. So many artists have had issues with their mental health, assumptively because of their sensitivity to the world around them. Creativity exists from how people feel and some of the best artists have been through their fair share of emotional periods and hardship.
Why does art help mental health?
Artists have used art as a way to rehabilitate and fuel their energy into something positive. Generations upon generations of artists have used art as escapism, famous artists include Vincent Van Gogh, Francis Bacon, Edgar Degas, and Edvard Munch. Perhaps these artists became so famous because of their mental health? Maybe being sensitive in this way allows artists to reach their full creative genius – by pulling on such powerful emotions.
Major exhibitions are now on view specifically focussing on Anxiety and art such as the ‘Anxiety and Hope in Japanese Art’ at The Met Museum in New York which is on show until July 2024.
Vincent Van Gogh is an incredible advocate for creativity during hardship, up to the date of his suicide in 1890, Vincent did not allow his poor mental health to stop him from painting – instead as a remedy. We should remember Vincent and these other artists during Mental Health Awareness Week and continue to use art as an emotional outlet to aid in the recovery of poor mental health.
Art is such a powerful tool that can help us express and understand our emotions when perhaps words are not so easy. Art can provide an escapism that gives release and for so many artists is all absorbing and a great tool of recovery to not only express emotions but also as a remedy for problems. Nature is an undeniable healer and constant source of inspiration for so many of us and especially important when considering anxiety.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wQl4aPpYHrA
Many artists have found great solace and comfort in the power of nature and art and how this focus has hugely helped in relaxation and alleviating feelings of anxiety. The power of nature, the colours, calmness and affect it can have on all your senses is sure to help so many people. You don’t have to be an expert or professional artist to take some paper and draw, paint or even photograph surrounding nature, it is free and there for all who wish to see it and improve their mental health with its help. So use your artistic talents to really help you this month and explore the power of art and how it can not only aid feelings of anxiety but can become a hugely powerful influence in your life.
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