art therapy offers an alternative to medication for depression and anxiety

“i had gone from a fully functioning person with a job to all of a sudden, not. my retirement was immediate,” says long, who spent several weeks in the hospital, followed by weeks of rehab learning how to walk, talk and see again. grappling with her newfound reality, the mississauga resident was understandably anxious and depressed. “i had to figure out who i was, what i was going to do and who i was going to be.” she was thrown a lifeline when the hospital referred her to a community program called next step to active living , which included arts classes for people living with brain injuries.

a creative approach to healing

art therapy reportedly took hold after the second world war for soldiers suffering from ptsd . they often struggled with articulating their emotions, and traditional forms of treatment had little effect. but when they picked up a paint brush, piece of clay or musical instrument, they were able to express themselves non-verbally. art therapy was soon adapted to help kids with adhd, teens with depression, cancer patients with anxiety, and the elderly with loneliness.

dr. colin saldanha, a mississauga family physician and mental health advocate who had long championed non-pharmacological approaches to mental health, co-founded artscare , a program that promotes the arts as a way to support those with mood disorders.

“cortisol levels increase during times of grief, anger, frustration and depression,” he says. “on the other hand, feel-good hormones, such as endorphins and serotonin, surge when people are doing art or experiencing art. in fact, brain imaging shows this increase in positivity and translates into a better mental state, more calmness and serenity.”

art means drop in doctor visits and hospitalizations

mike douglas, executive director of the mississauga arts council (mac), which administers artscare, was struck by a report commissioned by a parliamentary committee in britain that showed exposure to arts reflected a 37 per cent drop in doctor visits, and a 27 per cent reduction in hospital admissions, resulting in a savings of £216 per patient.

prescribing art instead of drugs

arts education specialist dr. brittany harker martin, an associate professor at the university of calgary’s werklund school of education , knows all about using the arts as a form of prevention and promotion of mental health — she teaches students who will become teachers themselves in the educational arts.

brain imaging has proven that the hormone secretion associated with creating or experiencing art positively impacts mental health. getty

we need a bridge between science and policy

in her “ brain smoothies ” program, for example, harker martin, also a member of both the mathison centre for mental health research & education and the hotchkiss brain institute at the university of calgary, teaches participants how to access healthy mental states and energize their mind through visual and tactile practice.