When Dr. Frank Clark was in medical school to become a psychiatrist, he decided to write his first poem.
“All that chatter that’s been in my head, all that I’ve felt, I can now put it on paper and my pen can speak,” he said, recalling his thoughts at the time.
At the time, he was battling depression and relied on a number of things to keep it at bay, including running, therapy, medication and his faith.
“I had to find something else to fill the void,” he said. It turned out that poetry was the missing piece of his “wellness puzzle”.
“I saw an improvement in my mood,” said Dr. Clark, who now sees patients in Greer, SC “It gave me another outlet.”
The notion that art can improve mental well-being is something many people intuitively understand but can lose sight of – especially if we’ve disconnected from the dancing, creative writing, drawing and singing that we loved when we were kids.
But there is a “really strong body of evidence” to suggest that creating art, as well as activities like going to a concert or visiting a museum, can benefit mental health, said Jill Sonke, research director at the Center. of Arts in Medicine from the University of Florida. .
Here are some easy ways to improve your mood with the arts.
Try the Three Drawings Technique
Dr. James S. Gordon, psychiatrist and founder of the Center for Mind-Body Medicine, pioneered what is known as the “Three Drawings Technique.” It is featured in the new book “Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us”.
“In my experience, art like this goes beyond words in helping us understand what is going on with ourselves and what we should do with it,” says Dr. Gordon in the book. .
You don’t need to be good at drawing, stick figures are fine.
Start by sketching yourself quickly; don’t think too much about it. The second drawing should show you your biggest problem. The third drawing should show you when your problem has been solved.
This exercise is meant to encourage self-discovery and empower people to heal themselves — and you can do it with or without a therapist, said Susan Magsamen, assistant professor of neurology at Johns University School of Medicine. Hopkins and co-author of the book.
Color something complex
If you are one of the many people who have turned to coloring books for adultsperhaps unsurprisingly, research suggests that this activity can help relieve anxiety.
Coloring inside lines – of an intricate pattern, for example – seems to be particularly effective. A study who evaluated the students, and another who evaluated the elderlyfound that spending 20 minutes coloring a mandala (a complex geometric design) was more helpful in reducing anxiety than free-form coloring for the same amount of time.
Susan Albers, a clinical psychologist at the Cleveland Clinic and author of “50 Ways to Soothe Yourself Without Food,” described coloring as a “mini mental vacation.” When we focus on the texture of the paper and pick the colors we like, it becomes easier to eliminate distractions and stay in the moment, she said.
“It’s a great form of meditation for people who hate meditation.”
Enjoy more music
Listening to music, playing an instrument or singing can be beneficial, Studies show.
A study 2022for example, surveyed more than 650 people in four age groups and asked them to rank the artistic activities that had helped them “feel better” during the 2020 pandemic lockdowns. The youngest participants, aged 18 at age 24, have overwhelmingly rated musical pursuits as more effective. In all age groups, “singing” was ranked among the main activities.
Other studies have found that singing reduces the levels of cortisol, a hormone that the body releases when stressed. As an examplemothers who had just given birth and who sang regularly for their babies had less anxiety.
Ms Magsamen noted that music can be effective in reducing stress because things like rhythm and repetitive lyrics and chords engage multiple brain regions.
“I sing in the shower,” Ms Magsamen said. “I sing loudly on the radio.”
write a poem
Dr. Clark has continued to write poetry since graduating from medical school and offered some advice for those willing to give it a try.
First, banish any thoughts that you’re not creative enough. “I think we are often our own worst critics,” he said. “I believe anyone can write poetry.”
Start with a simple haiku, suggested Dr. Clark. Haikus consist of only three lines – the first and last lines have five syllables and the middle one has seven.
Also consider involving your friends – a suggestion from a paper 2020 in the Journal of Medical Humanities which explored the “healing power” of poetry.
As the authors wrote, “Just reading a poem once a week, sharing a poem with a friend, or spending five to ten minutes writing freely about a favorite memory, current idea, worry, or a hope, all this can be effective in the first steps to discover the benefits of poetry.