The importance of Creativity for Mental Health well being
World Mental Health Day takes place on 10th October every year to raise awareness of mental health issues and to promote mental well-being. One often overlooked but potent tool in the journey towards better mental health is creativity!
The power of creativity is known to heal and empower our minds and is vital in the modern and stressful world.
Creativity is a mental health superhero, which helps reduce stress, anxiety and depression. Creative activities are likened to medication because of their calming effect on the brain and body. Doing something crafty after work and at the weekend can help you focus to calm the thoughts racing through your mind. Plus, creativity can help process trauma. Studies find that activities such as crafting and creative writing help people manage their negative emotions in a healthy, productive way. And for people who don’t like writing, visual arts - painting or drawing – can help the expression of trauma or experiences that can often be too difficult to put into words.
We’ve put together a graphic to highlight how to start to get creative to improve mental health.
Image description: Young person, sat a desk with laptop, apple drawing tool, camera, books, notebooks, pens. With graphic texts about ways to be creative and how to build creative skills
