Restart from beauty is our manifesto about Art and Mental Health.
It is a collection of our voices.
It started as discussion and it became our meeting summary.
Is Art good for mental health?
During Covid-19, art and creative / artistic activities in general were of fundamental importance in occupying the free time of people in lockdown.
“I kept my sanity thanks to drawing”
So it is a fundamental instrument of resilience.
This tool allows to people to explore, to talk, to think about the world.
Art allows you to express yourself when you are not brave enough to speak out loud.
Users with disabilities such as autism can find communication strategies through art. Sometimes the language used will be metaphorical and it is the facilitator's task to be able to learn her/his symbols.
Users hospitalized in psychiatric wards behave differently during arts therapy sessions.
Narrative medicine labs in Rome are a good example of how storytelling can be helpful for people: to write your story allows to your self to reflect better, to observe.
Art is it all about observation and safety spaces.
Art promotes mutual development.
It connects interests and allows to find identities and all this improves people's mental health. Art is a good cop
ing mechanism, that is, a positive strategy for dealing with stress. When people dedicate themselves to something they love, that is already art, and you don't need to be talented because you experience magical and healthy states called flow.
You forget about your surroundings and are concentrating on one activity you enjoy.
Can Art be unhealthy?
We starts asking ourselves: What is ART?
Art can be cooking and other daily things. It is about creating, it can be in everything.
Someone thinks art is a closed concept so not everyone wants to explore it
Someone thinks you have to be talented, you have to create something.
But just enjoying art is enough, you don’t have always to create.
Art doesn’t have to have limits.
But is it good for everyone?
You have to taste it, just a little. Time by time.
Cinema, movies, books can be dangerous sometimes. They can isolated you.
Binge watching is typical in some case of depression.
Above all, during Covid-19.
Art can be connected to bad feelings.
Some artists can create only through when they are feeling bad.
Art is not harming but when you make professional art, the pressure from outside is causing the harm.
Creativity is multifaceted.
Is it better to create art instead of medication?
Sometimes people needs someone to introduce them to use art for mental health.
Art-therapies are a good way to explore ourselves through art.
In Romania doctors prescribe art for people with disabilities.
“Sometimes volunteers forget about helping the users with disabilities and start creating things themselves”
Creativity is a tool that coveys special wellbeing.
But it has limits.
It depends on you and your condition.
You have to find your balance.
And people have to realize how much impact art can have.