Art Lovers discussion

Mental Illness Treated With Art Therapy

The latest news from Spain is that art therapy helps treat mental illness. The University of Granada recently performed a study that confirms the contribution of art therapy to aid in the treatment of mental disease.

About the Mental Illness and Art Therapy Study

One of the researches, Elizaberta Perez, said the study is founded on psychoanalysis principles. Perez worked for over a year with 20 acute mental patients from the Therapeutic Community of the Northern Area of the Virgen de las Nieves Hospital of Granada. The patients volunteered to take part in the sessions two days a week. During the sessions they adapted paintings of artists like Amedeo Modigliani, Edvard Munch, Vincent Van Gogh, and contributed their own visions.

The patients used their paintings to project repressed desires, feelings and emotions from their hearts and minds. During the artistic process, they were able to bring these feelings and emotions to life, or abolish them as they saw fit, Perez said.

Art therapy is becoming a more acceptable way of helping people. As we mentioned, it can help with mental health and art helps the brain, but it can also help with the physical and emotional well-being of a person. Art can help people:

manage behavior
reduce stress
develop interpersonal skills
increase self-esteem
increase self-awareness

Art therapists can also help address:

emotional difficulties related to disability or illness
trauma and loss
post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
physical problems
cognitive problems
neurological problems

http://www.arttherapyblog.com/mental-...

I'm not surprised it helps with a host of mental illnesses.

Oh good, you're welcome, Luis.