How Creativity Helps Mental Health

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The concept of mental health is an expansive topic. Often complicated to explain, we can best understand it by its world wide definition as the “level of psychological well-being or an absence of mental illness.” In simple terms, mental health is a state in which your mind is physically fit, well and happy. So, we should all strive for positive mental health, right? 

The answer is an outstanding yes, mental health and taking care of our own psychological welfare should be at the core of your everyday life. In fact, when the way you think, react, process and feel is affected - your life can quickly turn upside down. That’s why we strive for mental stability in a preventive way, aiming to take care of ourselves in order to avoid such devastating upset. And, if we ultimately struggle with mental health as a predisposition to environment, genetics or the way our brain is inherently wired - we fight tooth and nail to identify, analyze and cope with our emotions as soon as they surface. 

There are many ways that you can attempt to create a life centered around better mental health. Some choose to go to therapy, others choose to use methods such as journaling or physical exercise, many consult their support system of family and friends. Yet, one resounding way that mental health is managed and dealt with is through the power of creativity, expression and art. 

Creativity fuels our brain. It allows us to picture situations with our own unique perspective and allows us to essentially shift our reality. With creativity, we can change the way we see the world around us. Therefore, it makes complete and total sense that when dealing with mental health issues and illnesses - which essentially distort our reality and perception of our inner self - that we often turn to a form of endless expression that fuels the positivity we want to grab out of life. 

How Creativity Helps Mental Health: Lifting The Lid On Mental Health

Creativity Fuels Better Mental Health

With all that being said, you may be wondering: how exactly does creativity act as a catalyst for better mental health? 

To answer that, we’ll need to examine the function of brains. Because I’m not an expert on our inner cranial working, I want to share some insight by Ashley Stahl in her Forbes article, Here’s How Creativity Actually Improves Your Health. 

“It might sound too good to be true, but simply engaging in creative behaviors (even just coloring in those trendy adult coloring books) improves brain function, mental health, and physical health.”

As I read the article, I began to learn more about how our brains react when we engage in creative activities. The combination of doing something creative and an internal chemical release - thank you dopamine - is what allows us to feel less anxious, stressed and essentially knocks out those negative feelings occupying our brain. 

She describes this process as flow, which is when you become completely immersed in an activity that you lose track of time. Flow works in conjunction with the repetitive process of creating something that allows us to achieve an end result. Stahl says, “And when you succeed at creating a result, no matter what it is, your brain is flooded with dopamine, that feel-good chemical that actually helps motivate you. Whether or not you’re aware of your increased happiness, the hit of dopamine you get after being in flow will drive and influence you toward similar behavior.”

So, in simple terms:

• We work on something creative that we love

• We get immersed in the project so much so that our body begins to feel calm, stable and less anxious

• Therefore developing an end result that essentially boosts positive, dopamine induced feelings into our brain 

• And, all of this together collectively makes us feel better and happier

If that doesn’t showcase the creativity and better mental health connection, then I don’t know what does. 

How You Can Find Your Creativity

Now that we know more about our brains work, hope you enjoyed the quick 101 in psychology, let’s talk about how you can find your own source of creativity. 

You may be thinking, but I’m not a creative person, so how exactly can I use creativity to support my mental health? I have to stop you right there, because trust me - everyone is creative in some way, shape or form. Creativity doesn’t translate to talent. You can be creative, without having to make a living from your interest. And, you definitely don’t need to be good at your creative activity - as long it brings you joy, happiness and calamity, then it’s worth pursuing. 

Let’s get over the hump of thinking that creativity is only for a select few and embrace that it’s a universal comfort for all. Creativity can be anything from drawing, to reading a book, building a garden, playing an instrument, taking pictures, making videos, cooking, sewing, singing - and those don’t even begin to scratch the surface. 

So, when you’re searching for your creativity - think about an activity you genuinely enjoy doing. Do you have that idea in your mind? Great. Now, think of the last time you actually did it. Today, yesterday, months ago, years ago? If your answer is months or years ago, it’s time to start thinking about how you can reignite your spark of creativity. 

Craft a plan of action for how often you can engage in your creativity activity each week. Can you wake up early a few mornings if it means you have mental clarity for the day? Can you resist the urge to relax after work in order to do something creative that will help you wind down more effectively than binge watching Netflix? 

Achieving better mental health isn’t exactly a straight line approach. Yet, the more time and energy you invest into calming your brain and deciphering your emotions, the more success you will find in your journey for stability and clarity. That’s why determining your creativity is so important on the road to positive mental health. 

You’ll need to do a bit of work to find the most fitting creative activity for you and carve out time each week to exercise this area of your brain. Yet, although it may not be the easiest of tasks - once you start acting on your creativity, strong mental health will be quick to follow. All you need to do is believe that you are truly creative and let your brain do the rest. 

What’s your go-to creative activity that helps you feel more centered, calm and stable? Feel free to leave me a comment below and let me know how this creativity has helped you and your mental health.