Coping with pandemic stress through art

Since its March 2020 arrival on U.S. shores in March 2020, children, teens and adults alike have struggled with mental health. In an effort to cope with the unprecedented culmination of living in a pandemic during a time of political hyper pluralism and civil unrest, many have found comfort in creating art.

A study conducted by the Center for Disease Control found that “the amount of adults with recent symptoms of an anxiety or depressive disorder increased from 36.4-41.5%” from August 2020 to February 2021 as a result of the ongoing pandemic.

With a surplus amount of time on their hands, many people have consulted and created art in forms such as painting, drawing, writing and creating music in an effort to cope with pandemic induced stress. This process, known as art therapy, is defined by “the use of specific artistic methods to treat psychological disorders and enhance mental health.”

“The physical act of making [art] can be meditative and calming,” Western Kentucky University Art Department director Kristina Arnold said. “As we focus on working on something with both the body and mind, it can take us out of what I call that ‘constipated’ head space where we just whir around and worry.”

Staff counselor Mariya Fye at Western Kentucky University said creating art may be a helpful medium as far as allowing people to take their mind off stressful things in their lives.

“Like any model of self-expression—theater, music, writing, poetry, crafts, creating art can help people experience joy and creativity, which can help them feel more positive,” Fye said. “Creating art can also be a calming experience for some people and help them temporarily take their mind off things they find stressful.”

Fye said not everyone will find the process of creating art to be a “stress reducing experience.”

Fye clarified that a licensed Art Therapist is the only clinician who can provide Art Therapy to clients, but that other mental health providers with a background and an interest in creative arts, such as herself, can incorporate creative interventions with more traditional approaches to counseling or therapy.

Fye said that when clients are interested in utilizing art in a therapeutic format, she discusses with them their preferences of self-expression whether they prefer something like painting or writing.

“For some it would mean creating art or writing in a journal between sessions and bringing in art or writing of choice to share in the session so we can talk about the experience and its meaning together,” Fye said.

The skills utilized to create art are associated with the nonverbal part of brain, which is also the section of the brain where post-traumatic stress and memories of traumatic experiences are stored.

Art therapist Tammy Shella told the Cleveland Clinic that it is difficult for those affected to voice their feelings regarding traumatic experiences because of the distinct differences between the verbal and nonverbal areas of the brain and how they work.

“People who have PTSD are triggered by things like sights, smells, colors or sounds that remind them of the trauma that occurred,” Shella said. “In their case, talking about the event won’t always bring up the trauma. Just talking about things won’t necessarily help them heal.”

Shella said victims face difficulty expressing what they’ve experienced due to the potential presence of conflicting emotions such as shame, anger and depression.

“Through art therapy, patients can convey how they really feel on the inside and reveal things that they weren’t comfortable sharing with the world,” Shella said.

While she is not an art therapist and does not provide art therapy to her clients, staff counselor Fye offers her clients the opportunity to visually express what they’ve experienced and are feeling through creative interventions if they desire.

Fye noted that people who intend to utilize art and art therapy to cope with trauma should instead seek professional help as it is not a “cure it all” in regard to past trauma. If someone’s motive behind creating art is attempting to get over traumatic experiences or work towards improving their mental health, Fye said it is best that they seek therapy or counseling for help.

“Art and Art Therapy have been utilized in trauma work, but any trauma work should be undertaken with a therapist who is knowledgeable about and trained in providing trauma treatment, whether it is verbal therapy or another modality,” Fye said.

Fye stressed the most important aspect is safety when users create art as a method of expressing their emotions.

“If someone finds it helpful to do art as a way of processing or communicating their emotions and can do so safely without experiencing feeling worse as a result, they may choose to engage in art as part of their healing process,” Fye said.

Arnold, Western Kentucky University’s art department head, noted that an important part of utilizing the art creation process as a means to process feelings is the content artists choose to address in their work.

“Creating an object that expresses these ideas not only frees those thoughts or feelings from where they may have been stuck in the brain space, by looking at that object it also allows the artist to literally ‘see’ these thoughts in new ways, allowing them to be examined,” Arnold said.