Written by Jana Tosic
Mental health matters more than ever, especially as many of us face challenges like anxiety and depression. Did you know that nearly one in five adults experiences a mental health issue each year? (SAMHSA)
This reality can feel overwhelming, and it’s no wonder that people are searching for new ways to cope and heal. While we often think of exercise and diet as key to our well-being, creative activities can be just as important for our mental health. When you dive into creative activities like painting, writing, or playing music, you can express your feelings and find relief from everyday stress.  And the best part? You don’t need special skills or training—just a desire to explore and express.

In this article, you’ll learn how to add creativity to your routine for better mental health and enrich your life. Keep reading to discover simple, fulfilling ways to start.

Is Creativity Good for Mental Health? What Science Says:
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Creativity is your secret advantage for mental health and well-being. It offers a way to connect with your emotions and express feelings that words often can’t capture. 
Did you know that engaging in creative activities can change how your brain works? When you create, your brain releases endorphins and dopamine. According to research published in Science Direct, those chemicals boost your mood and make you feel good. 
This isn't just a feel-good story; studies show creative expression can significantly improve mental health. For example, an NCBI journal highlights how “art-making can reduce anxiety.”
So, if you're feeling overwhelmed or stuck, picking up a paintbrush or writing in a journal might be exactly what you need.
Furthermore, research on creative expression has linked it to improved resilience in mental health. One study explains, “Participating in creative activities can help people cope with stress and despair and alleviate the burden of chronic mental illnesses”​ (NCBI). 
So, if you're struggling with your emotions or past experiences, remember that creativity is a powerful tool for understanding and healing. Explore your creative side. You might just find that it helps you heal and feel more connected to yourself and the world around you.

How Can Art be Used for Self-Expression?

Self-expression through art can help people process difficult emotions and manage trauma. According to NCBI findings, self-expression can serve as “an emotional buffer, helping individuals work through unresolved feelings”​ (NCBI).
When you take the time to write, paint, or make music, you're giving yourself permission to feel and explore complex emotions. This process can help you work through trauma or stress, turning painful experiences into something beautiful and meaningful. 

These findings reveal that embracing creativity can be transformative for mental health. As you read this article, you'll find simple ways to incorporate creative practices into your life and feel the profound benefits for your mental well-being.

How Mental Health Struggles Show Up in Artists' Lives
Mental health challenges often surface quietly for artists, affecting both your work and well-being. But what do these signs mean, and how can you manage them? 
Let’s break down how mental health might appear in your life so that you can recognize and address these experiences head-on.

Common Symptoms of Mental Health Problems in Artists

• Anxiety and excessive worry. The demands of the creative world can stir up feelings of anxiety. You might worry about your work being accepted, meeting deadlines, or managing financial uncertainties. This constant state of worry can cloud your creativity and affect your well-being.
• Depressive symptoms. Many artists go through periods of feeling low, which may include:

1. ​Lack of motivation: You might struggle to start new projects or feel drained by the creative process.
2. Self-doubt: Comparing yourself to others can make you question your talent and wonder if you’re good enough.
3. Fatigue: The emotional demands of creating can leave you exhausted, making engaging in your art and daily life hard.

• Addiction and substance use. Some artists turn to substances as a way to cope with emotional pain. While it may offer temporary relief, substance use can worsen mental health issues.
• ​Isolation and loneliness. Working solo, especially in freelance roles, can lead to feelings of loneliness. You might miss the sense of connection that comes from team collaboration. This isolation can intensify mental health struggles.

Famous Artists With Mental Health Issues:
Here are some inspiring examples from famous artists who’ve faced mental health issues:
1. Vincent van Gogh suffered from severe depression, psychotic episodes, and possible epilepsy. He’s known for his bold use of color, pouring those raw emotions into iconic works like The Starry Night. His vivid yellows may have been influenced by his condition, giving his art a unique intensity that reflects his emotional world.
2. Known for The Scream, Edvard Munch's work captures his battles with mental health. He faced depression, alcoholism, and a breakdown in 1908 following a challenging family history. His haunting words, “sickness, madness, and death were the black angels that guarded my crib,” reflect how his past influenced his art. Munch’s swirling colors and dark themes mirror his internal struggles, showing how creativity and suffering often intertwine in deeply expressive ways.
3. Among the female writers with mental illness is Sylvia Plath. Her poetry captured deep struggles with depression in a way that connected powerfully with others. Her work, especially Ariel, reveals how art can be a lifeline for expressing inner pain. Plath’s journey also led to the “Sylvia Plath Effect,” a term used to explore the unique challenges poets face with mental health.
4. Known for her soulful voice and expressive lyrics, Amy Winehouse battled addiction and bipolar disorder. That produced a deep impact on her music and personal life. Her song Rehab showed her struggle with accepting help, yet she faced cycles of despair, substance use, and self-doubt. 
Despite her success, Amy’s story reminds us that mental health struggles can affect anyone. Reaching out for support can be vital in sustaining well-being and creativity.
Let these real-life stories remind you that you’re not alone. There is hope, and therapy or counseling can help you manage your emotions with personalized support.  

Written by Jana Tosic
Being an artist can be both a gift and a challenge. Your creativity lets you perceive life in ways others don't, but does it also make you more vulnerable to mental health struggles? Studies show that mental health challenges are very common among artists. In fact, nearly 60% of artists experience some form of mental illness in their lives. Beyond the “tortured artist” stereotype, there’s real pressure that comes with creative work. Here, we’ll explore why these challenges happen and how you can manage them while keeping creativity alive.
Why Artists Experience Mental Health Challenges
Mental health challenges often feel close to home in creative fields, and it’s no coincidence. The emotional depth and sensitivity that fuel artistic work can make artists more vulnerable to struggles like self-doubt, anxiety, and intense highs and lows. 
Imagine spending days perfecting a piece, only to feel uncertain if it’s good enough or if anyone will connect with it. Recognizing these feelings as common in creative careers can help you manage them with compassion and continue to create uplifting work. You might wonder: Is creativity linked to mental illness? Let’s explore this connection further.

The Link Between Creativity and Mental Health Research shows a strong link between creativity and certain mental health conditions like anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder. The same study further reveals that writers and visual artists face much higher risks of depression and bipolar disorder than others. 
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​While your feelings can inspire beautiful art, they can also make you more vulnerable to emotional struggles. For example, a poet might draw inspiration from sadness and be caught in self-doubt. 
Recognizing this link can help you navigate the ups and downs of your creative journey. 

Our CMHC team is here to listen and provide the guidance you need.

It's common for people in creative professions to have moments (sometimes long periods) where they ask themselves this question: "is my time up? should I be working toward something else instead?"
My approach in tackling this issue is both exploratory and empowering.
I like to understand what the reasoning is behind these types of doubts, and I also want to be the voice that cheers for the "Creativity/Arts Team". Here are some things I consider:

1. ​​What does the idea of changing directions feel like? Is there excitement and curiosity when discussing carving a new professional path or feelings of grief and frustration? We want to know the nature of someone's feelings associated with the change.
2. Is the commitment to pursuing the artist's path based on ego? Is it hard to give up because it feels like failure? We want to make sure that someone wants to stay in their chosen path for the "right" reasons.
3. Does my client truly have a choice? By this, I mean that sometimes doing art is not a choice. It's a need. Clients may feel unfilled and incomplete if they are not writing, acting, painting, playing music, and so on. When this is detected, I make sure to continue to empower my clients to keep doing what they are doing and gently surrender to the fact that it's an essential, non-negotiable part of who they are.

When clients share their apprehension about presenting their creative work, I often urge them to contemplate the following question: what does your audience represent to you? At first, this may seem like an unusual way to think about an audience. The idea that an audience represents something--and is not just the group of people watching or listening to your work, can be a little foreign. However, upon further exploration, I find that clients start to get it: throughout the years, they have turned audiences into some kind of projection; imagined and self-imposed pressure, that draws from past experiences, inner criticism or unrealistic expectations. 
Audiences may represent:

1. the affirmation of proving to yourself and to others that you've made it
2. the comforting "embrace" of validation and acceptance
3. a bully taunting you early in life
4. a harsh critic who told you you're not worth it
5. an extended member of your family who cares about the effort you've put into your work
6. the challenge of figuring out (from a marketing perspective) how to capture people's attention

There are likely many other ideas to add to this list. As soon as clients figure out what their audience represents to them, they can work through complicated feelings about presenting their work to others. Having an understanding of what's at stake, on a deeper emotional level, can make it easier to challenge what's holding them back. 
What does your audience represent to you? Please share your thoughts below! 

Our team has been steadily growing over the last few years. We have a diverse group of qualified therapists who are ready to help you tackle the difficulties that keep you from flourishing emotionally and creativity. Take a look at our OUR TEAM page to find out more!

My most creatively fulfilled clients are the ones who maintain some sort of daily creative practice (or, at least, almost daily). During this kind of practice, clients are not debating whether to work on a creative task, because it's a given. These clients know that spending time on some type of creative expression most days of the week, is a form of self-care. Just like it goes without saying that exercising, resting, eating well, and vacationing are parts of a healthy routine, creatively fulfilled clients are motivated by the idea that actively using their creative faculties is not a luxury, nor something trivial. Rather, it's necessary to feel content and satisfied. 
Still, there is some kind of inner dialogue going on. This dialogue regarding a daily creative practice is not about whether, but about what, how or when. 
1. What should I work on? While there are some constraints (deadlines, resources, etc.) it's important to check in with yourself regarding what you feel like working on. Sometimes creators feel like reflecting, "sitting" on ideas, taking things in, rather than actively producing work. Sometimes creators want to go back and edit, other times they want to write new material. As long as the relationship with creative work is maintained, fluctuating between tasks is normal and ok. 
2. How should I approach the work? You might find yourself wondering which direction your plot should take, whether to add a bridge section to your composition, or if you should care about whether your play fist with the tone of other plays in the show. There are countless questions that arise during the creative process. As the famous quote says, "when there's a fork in the road, take it." 
3. When do I move onto something else? With experience in practicing daily creative habits, comes the intuition to know when it's time to take a break or to stop altogether. You will know whether the voice telling you that it's time to stop comes from a place of avoidance, or a genuine need to introduce a different type of creative stimulation. The important thing is that, right when you are about to wrap one project up, you're always wondering "what's next?"
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This short list captures four main themes explored during sessions at Creativity Mental Health Counseling. There are many ways to stay motivated, and here are just a few to point you in the right direction. 

• Think of it as self-care. When you are creating you might be leaving your mark onto this world, you might be relaxing, you might be enjoying yourself, you might be learning something new, you might be stimulating your brain, you might be using your talents, or doing something that will help you feel productive. Whatever the case, just like going to the gym or to the dentist, using your creativity can be is another way to take care of yourself and to maximize your well-being.
• Think of it as taking care of others. Maybe your EP has an audience of 10 or 10,000. Your story might make it to the screens of 50 or 500 readers. It only takes 1 person to be emotionally moved, to learn something new, or to be entertained or intrigued, for your creative work to have an impact. 
• Find out what it means to you. There must be a reason you began to do creative work in the first place. There must be an inherent drive, a curiosity, a craving, and a meaning behind a creative task. Is it to tell a story that has not been told? To tell an old story differently? To discover the depths of your own limits and potential? Whatever it is, identify the big picture significance and don't let go!
• Habits, habits, habits. There will inevitably be days that you have things to do that seem to take precedence over sitting down to write, draw, brainstorm, photograph, compose, etc. If you have well-rehearsed, automatic habits in place, you are more likely to be motivated to show up and make progress, if it's just a small amount.

Creativity Mental Health Counseling now has an Instagram page! Follow us for inspiring quotes, calming images, and practice news. https://www.instagram.com/creativitymhc