You know how when you are scrolling through social media and come across a fascinating piece of information that pushes you to research and learn more about it? This is how I went about the relationship between creativity and our mental health. In two separate videos, i.e., in Martha Beck’s Interview and Kate Wood’s TedTalk, they talked about how engaging in some creative work can alleviate feelings of anxiety or depression. The popular interventions used for many mental health concerns have been medications and talk therapy. In India like in other countries, mental health is a crisis that engulfs people but because of the still existing stigma, many silently suffer through it.
In India, anxiety and depression are the most prevalent disorders -2.57% of the adult population have been reported to be diagnosed with different Anxiety Disorders with differences in the number of people for different types of anxiety disorders (Manjunatha et al., 2022) and 4.5% of the population suffered from depression ((Bashar et al., 2019). The data presented is old so there is a high chance that the numbers have shot up and considering the increase in mental health awareness, so there is an urgent need to update the data through credible sources. But keeping in mind our country’s population even these numbers tell a grim reality, for example, about 59.4 million people were affected by depression which is in no way a small number of people. This means that we need to have interventions that meet people’s support needs- whether on a professional level or a personal level. Talk therapy and medications are both great treatment approaches and people do see benefits from them but as time passes we can’t avoid that even they have their limitations.
- People might not be able to afford these treatments long-term which may mean that there are chances of relapse or they never got the chance to receive any help.
- With talk therapy, the match/compatibility between therapist and client (person who seeks therapy) is crucial; when that is missing therapy can cause harm to the person. Compatibility can mean whether the therapist has the training to address the concerns the client has, whether they are providing a non-judgmental space, whether despite training there is a personality mismatch between therapist and client that is affecting rapport, whether there is a culture/religious/value difference that is directly interfering with therapy. In-compatibility isn’t automatically a negative thing, but continuing with therapy despite it can cause harm.
- For some people, medicines may not be enough or effective (for example people with treatment-resistant depression) either short-term or long-term so relying on one intervention method may not be beneficial.
This is where adding creative pursuits in our daily life may help change how we express our emotions or live our lives. The research behind creativity and our mental health isn’t completely new. The effect of positive emotions on creativity has been studied for some time now. Researchers have found that a positive state of being can increase the level of creativity in a person (Isen et al., 1987). Researchers studying workplace behavior have also noticed that positive emotions may pave the way for creative problem-solving (Amabile et al., 2005). University students too seem to want to focus on creative goals when they are in a better mood than when they are annoyed or sad (Conner& Silva, 2015). However, the effect of creativity on moods hasn’t been studied as extensively in our day-to-day life.
Why are we talking about creativity and mental health?
The realms of psychological interventions are always growing and being able to tap into our ability to create and see its effect on our health can really encourage people to add these activities into their lives. Creativity doesn’t have to involve perfection- it isn’t about creating a masterpiece. A group of researchers explained creativity as an active process of using our skills, thoughts, and ideas as well as being inspired by our surroundings to create something (Plucker et al., 2004). So, we could say that with creativity, the focus is more on the faculties we use to create something which is shown to help build flexibility in our mind- an ability to consider different perspectives, adapting our thoughts or trying to consider new ideas; these may in turn help us problem solve better or build resilience (Kaufman, 2017; McDonnell, 2014). Creativity can also help with emotional expression or even help to manage our emotions (Fancourt et al., 2020). Spending time on creative initiatives has basically shown a positive relationship to better mood (Conner et al., 2016). With these many research works it can be guaranteed that creativity initiatives are great for everybody right? Well, not really, at least not for everybody; on top of it every creative activity doesn’t lead to a better mood every time. It doesn’t make sense for us to think of a new recipe when we are in the middle of a stressful situation or come up with a new choreography while we are panicking about something.
What are the creative activities that we can try out?
- Art- Doodling or sketching can be a relaxing exercise especially when we shift our focus from how our art “should look like” to mostly focusing on the experience of drawing, what we express through our art. Collages can be a fun way to collect things and incorporate them to create something new too.
- Music- Music therapy is helpful for many people but even as a hobby it can be a great creative activity to try out. And no, we don’t need to be singers or musicians to indulge in them (although learning to play an instrument or get formal training in singing can be fulfilling too). Humming a tune, singing to ourselves, and drumming a song on a table can all feel calming and can be tried out from our homes.
- Writing- Journaling our thoughts and feelings is probably one of the most common writing exercises we know about. But some creative writing exercises can be effective at managing our feelings too, like, writing our stream of consciousness by setting a timer and letting our thoughts flow into paper. I have shared a link to an article where the author lists different creative writing exercises to try out.
- Cooking- This may sound strange but cooking our meals can not only be a great way to boost our health but our mental health too and we aren’t simply talking about their nutritional benefits (managing nutrients does have a direct effect on our psychological and physical health). The act of cooking can help with mindfulness and also boost self-esteem (I mean who doesn’t feel more confident after cooking something tasty even if the meal is simple). In fact, researchers have tried to implement cooking-related therapy to address mental health, family dynamics, and self-image with promising results so maybe giving cooking a try won’t be bad.
- Movement- Just like art and music therapy, movement and dance therapy have also found popularity as a method of treatment for people with different physical and psychological diagnoses. But even if movement therapy is something we can’t/don’t wish to access doesn’t mean some of the activities can’t be incorporated as self-care. A simple walk is movement and can really help with calming us down. Movement can help calm our anxiety, lessen depressive mood, and in general give us outlets to express our emotions. Picking a favorite song and simply moving along with it can provide an outlet for our emotions; embodying a character from a book, movie, cartoon, or an animal that we like and moving (or dancing) as they would (while self-reflecting on what we feel or think) can be a fun way to express ourselves. This technique is usually used in movement therapy sessions so the therapist helps guide the person to notice themselves and what they may be feeling when doing it alone we might have to constantly remember to check-in with ourselves about the same.
Creativity is something that may seem scary but is part of all of our lives be it through paintings, music, cooking, writing, planning an event, decorating the house, or planning a workflow at workplaces. We can be creative and maybe not be a pro in our pursuits and if we give ourselves that opportunity, creative activities could be a great addition to our daily routine to manage our health. Not every creative activity will work for everyone but finding one that helps us express ourselves, organize our thoughts or shift focus can really change how we relax.
References
Amabile, T.M. et al. (2005) ‘Affect and Creativity at Work’, Administrative Science Quarterly, 50(3), pp. 367–403. doi:10.2189/asqu.2005.50.3.367.
Bashar, M., Mehra, A. and Aggarwal, A. (2019) ‘Integrating mental health into primary care for addressing depression in a rural population: An experience from North India’, Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 61(3), p. 319. doi:10.4103/psychiatry.indianjpsychiatry_374_18.
Conner, T.S. and Silvia, P.J. (2015) ‘Creative days: A daily diary study of emotion, personality, and everyday creativity.’, Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 9(4), pp. 463–470. doi:10.1037/aca0000022.
Conner, T.S., DeYoung, C.G. and Silvia, P.J. (2016) ‘Everyday Creative Activity as a Path to Flourishing’, The Journal of Positive Psychology, 13(2), pp. 181–189. doi:10.1080/17439760.2016.1257049.
Fancourt, D., Garnett, C. and Müllensiefen, D. (2020) ‘The relationship between demographics, behavioral and experiential engagement factors, and the use of artistic creative activities to regulate emotions.’, Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts [Preprint]. doi:10.1037/aca0000296.
Isen, A.M., Daubman, K.A. and Nowicki, G.P. (1987) ‘Positive affect facilitates creative problem solving.’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52(6), pp. 1122–1131. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.52.6.1122.
Jean-Berluche, D. (2024) ‘Creative expression and Mental Health’, Journal of Creativity, 34(2), p. 100083. doi:10.1016/j.yjoc.2024.100083.
Jeremy Sutton, Ph.D. (2024) Dance therapy: 4 best techniques for healing with Rhythm, PositivePsychology.com. Available at: https://positivepsychology.com/dance-therapy/ (Accessed: 29 January 2025).
Kaufman, J.C. (2021) Creativity and Mental Illness: So Many Studies, So Many Wrong Conclusions, Taylor & Francis. Available at: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003233930-15/creativity-mental-illness-james-kaufman (Accessed: 29 January 2025).
Manjunatha, N. et al. (2022) ‘Prevalence and its correlates of anxiety disorders from India’s National Mental Health Survey 2016’, Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 64(2), pp. 138–142. doi:10.4103/indianjpsychiatry.indianjpsychiatry_964_21.
McDonnell, R. (2014) ‘Creativity and Mental health’, Creativity and Social Support in Mental Health, pp. 19–41. doi:10.1057/9781137345486_2.
Plucker, J.A., Beghetto, R.A. and Dow, G.T. (2004) ‘Why isn’t Creativity More Important to Educational Psychologists? Potentials, Pitfalls, and Future Directions in Creativity Research’, Educational Psychologist, 39(2), pp. 83–96. doi:10.1207/s15326985ep3902_1.
Sandoval, J. (2024) Creative writing prompts & techniques to improve your mental health, Medium. Available at: https://medium.com/@javierwantscandy/using-creative-writing-to-improve-your-mental-health-2a0a6a44a2cb (Accessed: 29 January 2025).
Wu, X. et al. (2024) ‘Duffy, V.G. (eds) Digital Human Modeling and Applications in Health, Safety, Ergonomics and Risk Management. HCII 2024. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 14710. Springer, Cham’, in Digital Human Modeling and applications in health, safety, ergonomics and risk management: 15th International Conference, DHM 2024, held as part of the 26th HCI international conference, HCII 2024, Washington, DC, USA, June 29-July 4, 2024, Proceedings. part II. Cham: Springer.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-61063-9_14
TED Talks and Youtube Video Mentioned-
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