“Mental Health” is one of the most critical aspects of our life. It includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others and make choices in our life. Mental disorders can affect anyone of any gender, race or age. But some mental problems are indeed more common among women.
Various risk factors (such as discrimination, trauma, and stressful life experience) put women at greater risk of poor mental health than men. Practically, women face various physiological changes during pregnancy and childbirth, and these physiological shifts play a significant role in mental illness. And then parenting is one of the most challenging responsibilities for women.
Motherhood has twenty-four hours a day, seven days in a week responsibilities. Clean home, a happy husband, and intelligent and well-behaved kids, we always had pressure to create a perfect lifestyle for our family, making us completely exhausted at the end of the day.
Sometimes, it is true physically, mentally and emotionally draining. Also, financial insecurities, relationship demands and higher expectations from kids raise our blood pressure involuntarily. Even sometimes, the flow of negative thoughts makes us depressed too. And all these symptoms indicate a most common mental condition that affects most moms. A “typical mommy meltdown” impedes our otherwise peaceful life.
Unfortunately, approximately 70% of moms say parenting is hard and stressful. About 96% of moms also feel that we are far more stressed than our mothers were. Depression can be challenging. If you have experienced it, you know that the most basic tasks can become excruciating and leave you feeling apathetic and drained of your willpower. Simple tasks like getting out of bed, doing the laundry, and playing with your children may be daunting. While talk therapy and medications may be helpful, they are not the only solutions to relieving symptoms; this is where Art Therapy comes in.
Experts suggest various strategies for dealing with Mommy stress. And while discussing mommy stress, I would love to share a personal experience that has helped me greatly. And it will help others too. There are days when I feel pressured with a multitude of responsibilities. Whenever I feel overwhelmed by the intensity of negative emotions, I always prefer to move towards creativity. I love to immerse myself in the beautiful world of colours.
And as soon as I put the brush on canvas or colour the pictures with colour pencils, I feel an immediate transition in my mental status. My agony gets put on hold within a moment, and I instantly feel the ability to fight. Just the act of creating art (not necessarily a masterpiece) with beautiful colours gives me an immense sense of relief in holding the flow of negative thoughts.
What is Art Therapy?
You may be wondering, what exactly is Art Therapy? How do I know if it’s right for me? Do I need special skills or training? The answer is anyone can benefit from Art Therapy. Remember, art is a universal language. Therefore, it can assist people of all ages, from children to the elderly, and all stages. Art Therapy is a form of expressive therapy that uses the creative process of making art to support individuals struggling with emotional and behavioural difficulties, physical limitations, and mental illness.
In Art Therapy, there is an additional tool- the artistic process. This offers an opportunity to combine verbal and non-verbal exploration in one psychotherapy experience. It is often easier to communicate through these means, which many find less threatening, working through challenging issues creatively. This allows for deeper insight and growth.
Words Do Not Express
Opening up to a stranger about your deepest and darkest emotions can be challenging. Sometimes, we are taught to suppress our feelings and put on a blank face, even when experiencing inner turmoil. In art therapy, words are not always necessary. A mere lump of clay or a blank canvas can be far less threatening than giving voice to painful feelings, words, or images. The simple act of a scribble on paper can bring light to darkness, ignite conversation, or be a release for a depressing thought.
Because the human ear cannot hear something does not mean that nothing is being said or revealed. Once you have created and externalised a part of yourself as something concrete and tangible, it is easier to acknowledge that such an emotion existed in the first place. By creating, you give yourself permission and voice to that which is difficult to speak. You might feel a sense of relief or a movement of your depression once you have transferred it onto your canvas. Art therapy supports our process when words are not enough.
Creating One’s Happiness
Research shows that when we observe something we believe to be beautiful, the neurotransmitter dopamine is released in one of our pleasure centres in the brain. Interestingly, the brain activity observed when we look at art is comparable to the brain activity representing love! It’s nice to know that positive feelings increase after creating your art.
According to famous psychologist Gloria Martinez Ayala, we activate different areas of two cerebral hemispheres when colouring. The action involves both logic by which we colour forms and creativity when we match and mix colours. This incorporates the areas of the cerebral cortex involved in vision and fine motor skills. Thus this movement ultimately lowers the activity of the Amygdala, an essential part of our brain that controls emotions that are affected by stress.
In addition to supporting individuals with everyday stressors, art therapy has successfully improved communication, increased self-awareness, decreased stress, developed closer relationships, improved mood, and decreased disruptive behaviours and attitudes. Art Therapy can be used as an intervention to support those dealing with several other issues, including:
Learning disabilities
Grief/loss
Behavioural issues
Bullying
Trauma
Fears or Phobias
Challenges of a physical illness or disability
Mental illness
You do not need any particular skills or art training to participate in or benefit from art therapy; the emphasis is on the process. Though there are other types of expressive therapies (such as the performing arts), emotive art therapy, as discussed here, typically utilises more traditional art forms such as painting, drawing, sculpture, or other types of visual art expression. There is no definitive or correct way for clients to create in Art Therapy sessions; clients can make whatever comes to mind or create spontaneously.
What Does an Art Therapist Do
They are Certified Masters in using art as a springboard for everything from a general assessment of another person’s state to treatment for aiding severe illness. Art therapists can work with people of all ages, sex, and creed, et al. They can help an individual, a couple, a family, or groups of people; depending on the situation, numerous therapists may work together as a clinical team.
Art therapists are trained to pick up on nonverbal symbols and metaphors often expressed through art and the creative process, and these concepts are usually challenging to communicate with words. Only in this unique field are therapists performing what traditional psychoanalysts consider the hardest of tasks: getting those with depression to proactively express, manage, and overcome their symptoms, with the result being something incredible.
There are so many uses and benefits to expressive arts therapies that can help drastically improve people’s lives, especially women, for a plethora of reasons. Even if you don’t need serious help, it can be a great way to release stress after a long work week.