Why Creative Expression Is Excellent For Your Mental Health

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There are many strategies out there to help maintain your mental health, or to help you work through problems. The main hopeful note we wish to strike here is that no matter what you’re going through, you can move through it, and you always have hope for the future. Of course, not all mental health strategies are meant to be used solely as a magic bullet. Walking in the park an hour a day, while very good for your mental health, will not mean you are defended from all the stress you could ever experience.

This is why a combination of great mental health exercises is often recommended. From working out to meditating to getting enough sleep, to meeting with mental health professionals if you’re in need of help, there are strategies out there to help you. But one of the most powerful of these, up there with working out and getting enough sleep, is the ability to express yourself creatively. It’s also likely one of the most enjoyable.

With the following advice, we hope to show you how and why this is the case:

Exploring Ideas

It can be that you wish to explore your emotions and feelings through your artistic application. This doesn’t have to be as defined and literal as a blog post, although that can work too. Freeform writing about your last week can sometimes bring up emotions you might not have considered, or painting without a goal can help you consider the headspace you might be in. Getting it out of your mind and onto some canvas or paper, or perhaps musically, can help you express what you are feeling. There’s a reason talking therapy helps people all over the world, and it’s because often, what you bring into reality can feel much easier to deal with or consider than something just bumping around the inside of your mind from top to bottom. Sometimes, you might wish to put that towards something incredibly constructive, such as through studying at Kent State University.

Exploring your ideas and ideals through this might help you come to some insights, it might not. Sometimes, simply applying yourself to something outside of your situation, or working outside of a problem you might be facing can help your subconscious mind work something out, or it can give you a break from your standard routine. All of this can be very valuable in the long run.

Fun

Creativity is fun. It can be very easy to fall into worry or unhappiness with regards to a mental health issue. You might not socialize, you might find it hard to achieve any task, or you might feel anxious going outside. But playing your guitar and singing whatever comes to mind? You can enjoy that. This positive feedback loop can then be felt in other areas. Of course, mental health is much more than just ‘feeling happy.’ It’s also how you achieve something, if you can function, or how you feel about putting yourself forward. A creative application can do all these things. Sometimes, even social creativity can help you soothe yourself, and slowly fall back into care. This is why creative expression is often recommended by those helping mentally ill patients.

Something To Say

You might actually have something worthwhile to say. Consider how much art has been accomplished with those who aren’t in their best frame of mind. Some of Stephen King’s most famous works were created in the time he was most addicted to drugs, for example. Artistis with troubled pasts or musicians with issues can often create great art on account of their suffering. This is because they have something to say. 

Does this mean you need to focus on this in order to be a good artist? Absolutely not. You should always focus on being healthy, and never use this as a justification to avoid getting better. But it could be that the mental health upkeep you need can be best helped by expressing what you’re feeling, by using art to change norms, or simply to help you understand its therapeutic value. In other words – you truly might have something that someone else needs to hear, even if it’s just an insight, a show of love, or something personal to you.

To Summarize

Mental health upkeep is an essential and integral to any life well lived. Creative expression can help you do that, and also help you through the hardest times, when you might be struggling most. For those reasons and more, it should be cherished.