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Over the years a wealth of research has shown that exposure to art (in almost any form) is good mind medicine. Strolling through an art gallery isn’t just something to do when you’re in one of those cities with great galleries and museums, it’s worth doing anywhere you are, as often as you can.
So it stands to reason that creating art might also yield a few benefits, right? A new study not only confirms the assumption, it offers compelling evidence that adults seeking stress relief, no matter how artistically gifted or experienced, should stop making excuses and start making art.
The study design was simple: about 40 adults, ages 18 to 59, were recruited to make art of any sort. Their saliva was tested before and after to measure blood cortisol levels. Cortisol, often called the “stress hormone,” correlates closely with stress levels and effects. It’s one of the principal hormones that skyrocket during fight-or-flight responses to stressful events. The participants were also asked to complete questionnaires about their pre- and post-art-making mindsets.
The group spent 45 minutes doing free-form art without instructions. They were simply handed clay, paper, markers, glue and scissors and told to go as their muses led them.
The results: Nearly 75% of the participants had lower cortisol levels after making art than before. The researchers looked for correlations between the results and age, race and prior artistic experience and found none worth noting.
For the other 25%, cortisol levels stayed the same or, in some cases, increased slightly.
The questionnaire results supported the cortisol findings for the majority of the group: People generally reported feeling more at ease and relaxed after making art, with an enhanced sense of perspective on their daily stresses.
Dr Girija Kaimal, one of the study’s authors and assistant professor in the Department of Creative Arts Therapies at Drexel University, said of the results: “It was surprising and it also wasn’t. It wasn’t surprising because that’s the core idea in art therapy: Everyone is creative and can be expressive in the visual arts when working in a supportive setting. That said, I did expect that perhaps the effects would be stronger for those with prior experience.”
But, in fact, prior experience didn’t seem to matter. Even people who never worked a slab of clay or doodled benefited from a 45-minute foray in freeform art.
The biggest handicap for this study is lack of a control group. The findings would be all the more significant if the study was redone with a group that, say, sits in a room and does nothing for 45 minutes for comparison against the art-making group. And more analysis should be devoted to why a few people were more stressed than before they started. It’s possible that a “spotlight effect” kicked in, with some of the participants feeling like they were put on the spot to create something not embarrassing, instead of just making whatever they wanted no matter how it looked.
That said, the abundance of prior research on the stress-reducing benefits of art helps place this study in context, and it appears to add more evidence to a well-supported argument: To battle stress, do some art.
The study was published in the journal Art Therapy.
You can find David DiSalvo on Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, and at his website, daviddisalvo.org.
