The role of art on our psychological health and well-being.

Explaining the art side
Going back in time, art has a long history of healing. In ancient cultures, during healing rituals, art has been a communicative tool, elevating human vibrations. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has provided a report on the benefits of art and its profound effects on health and well-being.
Art has always been an idea hard to describe, including whether the art is an object, music, dance, theatre or a painting. These categories of art can be further divided into:
• Performing arts (music, dance, theatre, singing)
• Visual arts, design and craft
• Literature (Writing, reading)
• Cultural (Museums, galleries, festivals)
• Online, digital (Animations, computer graphics, cinematographic)
In all different categories, art has the power of providing an experience profound, both for the creator and the audience, with an associated emotional response inviting an imaginative process. Furthermore, art brings about creativity, uniqueness, with each piece, project or performance bringing about special skills.

Definition of health
‘WHO defines health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’. It brings about how we can prevent illness from happening, and how we can promote a healthy lifestyle within a community and at an individual level.

How we can link art to health
Different engagement in art activities is known to promote well-being. Art invites you to completely immerse yourself, your imagination, activating your senses, bringing your emotions into play, stimulating your cognitive function.
Research done have shown that engaging in visual arts has been known to decrease neuropsychiatric symptoms and improve the quality of life in Alzheimer’s patients. Having worked as a Registered nurse in a hospital, I have often witnessed the patients engaging in art therapy and could see the benefits it provided to them, the happiness it brought in them when being exposed to the different activities and how they could immerse into it, making them forget about their illness.
Different art activities have the potential to activate a psychological, behavioural and social response that are directly related to positive health outcomes. Art brings out an emotional expression of oneself, helps to regulate your emotions and reduces stress when one is immersed in the activity. Being able to regulate our emotions is an intrinsic factor as to how we take charge of our mental health. Stress is known to trigger disease and illness such as cardiovascular diseases or cancers. Being able to engage in an art activity offers an avenue to develop a skill and express yourself. Research has shown a decrease risks of illness such as dementia, but also could help in reducing depression. Furthermore, art therapy sessions invite the need to interact in a group, forming part of a community, offering social support, hence reducing loneliness.
Therefore, we could argue that art could act like a social glue, bringing different cultures, communities, social groups and generations together. For example, if dance and music is described as art, we know the power of how it can bring thousands of people to come together and become ONE.
It is then no wonder that we should expose more children and adults alike to art in an attempt to improve our mental health and overall well-being.

Sources:

The psychological and physiological benefits of arts

What is the evidence on the role of arts in improving health and well-being?