Creativity reduces anxiety, depression, and stress and boosts happiness, focus and motivation. Using your imagination and expression whilst having fun, boosts the happy hormones in your mind and body.
It has also been found to be beneficial in helping people process negative events and trauma.
Studies have found that writing or drawing helps people manage their negative emotions in a productive way, writing helps you process the thoughts we have and painting or drawing helps people express trauma or experiences that they find too difficult to put in to words.
At Happy Confident Kids, we recognise the importance of having creativity as an outlet or tool to express emotions so that children
Being creative can increase positive emotions, improving the production of oxytocin and serotonin, our natural happy hormones and can even improve immune system functioning.
Being creative means that you have an outlet to use your imagination and express your feelings and emotions, we all need to process and have an outlet for emotions, especially negative ones, as without this mechanism, we can become easily overwhelmed.
Here are some ways that being creative, imaginative, and expressing yourself through physical activities such as drawing, painting, photography, dance and singing can benefit you:
As a form of Stress Relief:
One of the main purposes of having a creative outlet is to express yourself to cope with distress, especially when it comes from general stress or other mental health issues like depression and anxiety. Art – in its broader sense is beneficial in providing moments of mindfulness, quality downtime and escape from fast-paced life, it can be done on its own, in a group or with a specialist that can help you discover how best to express yourself through art. Children can struggle to find the words to articulate their feelings and experiences therefore it is very important that time is allowed for them to destress and process their experiences.
To improve Cognitive Abilities:
Being able to be creative through art stimulates parts of the brain that are responsible for cognition, particularly when it comes to learning, problem solving, focus, and memory. Even art has obstacles and challenges, and when you’re given the opportunity to think, you look for ways of approaching them. Problem solving can be developed over time, and you will be able to find creative solutions for ordinary problems in your day-to-day life through what you’ve learned. This is an important developmental skill set, that without the ability to use art as a medium can limit this development, especially in children.
For a Sense of Purpose and Achievement:
Art can boost a person’s self-esteem because it gives them a sense of accomplishment that they may not be able to achieve elsewhere, namely if they don’t have interests in other activities like sports. While validation might not be important or a motivator for a lot of people, these feelings can be amplified if others appreciate the art, you create and have good things to say about it.
For Social Connection: Following on from the notion of others showing appreciation for your work, the social aspects of art can become much broader than that. Art has the ability to connect people who have the same interests; for example, people might enjoy the same kind of art, the same era or genre of it, or are influenced by the same artists. It gets people talking to each other, especially those who share the same passions. Again, especially important for those children who may not be as academic or sporty as their peers.
It’s Just Fun:
Probably the most important factor, art is just a fun and a great way to make time fly. It can be easy to get absorbed into what you’re creating, and this can help relieve boredom and the negative effects of it. Having fun and enjoying yourself is good for your mental health simply due the fact it can uplift your mood and give you a sense of satisfaction that you did something positive and productive with your day
For a lot of people, art has become an important part of their lives, and it becomes something that they look forward to doing and will actively make time for it. Hopefully, this article has shown you how art can be valuable to you and your child’s mental health and perhaps, it can also become something that gives you fulfilment and you can appreciate for the rest of your life. Remember that art isn’t about creating a masterpiece, it is about being able to express yourself, create something that brings you joy boosts your mood and is fun!