Stressed? Make Art
Picture this: you’re running late for a meeting with your supervisor. You spill half your coffee when the jerk in front of you slams on his brakes for seemingly no reason.
When you arrive, breathless and sweating at your meeting spot you remember that it was changed at the last minute to a coffee shop halfway across town.
If you’re feeling more stressed than usual, you’re not alone. Statistics by The Global Organization for Stress state that:
- 75 percent of Americans experienced moderate to high stress levels in the past month
- Stress is the number one health concern of high school students
- 80 percent of people feel stress at work
And if you’re non-White, a single parent, a woman, or responsible for your family’s health care decisions, you’re likely to be more stressed than others.
Art to the Rescue
So, what does making art have to do with any of this?
If you tend to reach for chocolate or your gym shoes in times of stress, you may want to pause and sit down with an art journal or sketchbook instead.
Why?
Because studies have proven that making art lowers levels of cortisol, that pesky stress hormone that not only makes you feel anxious and overwhelmed but has adverse effects on your body.
A study by Drexel University found that 45 minutes of art-making was sufficient to lower cortisol levels in 75 percent of study participants. The best part is that it didn’t matter how much art a person had made in the past.
In other words, there was no need to be the next Michelangelo to experience the benefits of creativity.
While the sources of stress may vary, the negative effects don’t. According to the article, “Stress Facts and Statistics”, via Recovery Village, the top stressors for most Americans now include:
- Money
- Work
- The economy
- Family responsibilities
- Relationships
- Personal health issues
- Housing costs
- Job stability
- Family health problems
- Personal safety
Effects of Art On Your Stress
The effects of art on the stress levels of participants in the Drexel University study were intriguing. Participants noted that making art was “very relaxing”, and that they felt “less anxious” following a creative session.
An interesting point: younger study participants showed significantly lower cortisol levels following an art-making session than older participants.
That’s no reason to avoid creativity if you’re over 40 though. After all, Grandma Moses didn’t start painting until she was 77 and Toni Morrison’s first novel was published at age 40.
An interesting side note? It didn’t matter what the skill level of the participants was when it came to creating. So if you haven’t drawn since doodling in grade school math class or painted anything since junior high, don’t worry.
The act of creating, not the finished product, is what’s important for stress reduction.
Joy Choquette writes for a living from her home office in Vermont…where she fights writer’s block by spending time with her family, reading, and making art. Check out her suspense novels which “turn pages, not stomachs” and are all set in small-town or remote parts of Vermont.
A proud member of the Alliance of Independent Authors (affiliate link) and International Thriller Writers, Joy’s novels have been read on four continents…and counting.
