theconversation.com: The UK’s Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, has said that doctors should prescribe dance classes and trips to concert halls as well as pills and physio – and set out plans to make this “social prescribing” a reality. He clearly gets how the arts can benefit health and well-being. But there is more to do. The health benefits to be gained from creative practice are enormous and universal – and so need widespread investment.
8 comments:
I find it interesting how it always seems like its a surprising fact in articles such as these that art has healing aspects and is both beneficial for physical, but especially, mental health. We often turn to music, television, and movies when we want a distraction or a mood shift or to just relax. Why, given the mental respite we can find in enjoying these arts, is it then so surprising that the same can be found in creating them? Art and music therapy is pretty well established and it is known that exercise releases chemicals that can make your brain and body feel refreshed. Dance and acting can often be adjacent to exercise, particularly dance, and the visual and musical arts are an exercise of the mind. It’s crazy how the negative connotations an stereotypes of art suddenly cancel out the known benefits of activities that can be so similar.
I whole heartedly agree with the philosophy of this article. Art and music goes back so far is history, it is thought that there was music before spoken language. There has been this shift of thoughts of health, physically a balanced diet and scheduled exercise will leave your body toned and functioning well. However, the emotional parts of a human need to be healthy as well, yoga and mindfulness are a good way to start that with dedicating time to acceptance and peace. Art goes one step beyond that, as the article says it allows you to have a physical manifestation of emotions. I think this movement in the UK is so good, and I hope it increases in funding and effectiveness. I also hope that here in the US something similar is adapted but I don't see it happening anytime soon. Music, dance, and other art forms are so healing when someone observes and even more so can connect to others through that language.
I have always been a believer that the arts help people heal their minds. I did not discover how beneficial it could be until I found the form of art that worked best for me. This article was a wonderful read. I think that the movement to encourage artistic expression in the United Kingdom will help people struggling with physical and mental illness immensely. Hopefully they will feel less trapped in their available methods for treatment, which often seem overwhelming and unenjoyable, and more comfortable and hopeful that they can find a way to get better that works for them. This method of treatment helps me practice mindfulness and I have noticed that it just makes me feel more relaxed and happy overall. There are so many ways to express yourself creatively, and the possibilities are endless. I hope this movement brings some of the same things to others who choose to take part in it.
As theater artists, I know we can all agree that art really does heal. Growing up in an arts school my entire life, I have seen people who are going through things help fix themselves through creative processes over and over again. Not everything can be fixed with medication, sometimes just exercising your creative side can help solve problems you didn’t even realize you had. From playing violin, to dancing for years, and now to technical theatre, that arts have always been my outlet and have saved me in more ways than one. With movements like this, I think it can help heal whole generations, not just in the UK, but all over the world. While the US hasn’t adopted anything like this, I could see it really changing the way younger generations think and express themselves. I truly believe this could bring a healthier and more positive outlook to communities everywhere.
It is in the back of our minds how art impacts our body, how colors change our moods, and how certain body poses can help our body functions. I’m not sure if the average human thinks of this, but I know these things live somewhere in my brain. But to have an authority say it, and recommend different types of art as a prescription, is a whole other ordeal. I am here for this. There are countless studies that talk about how art has helped improve quality of life. Whenever I think of health, I think of veggies, and healthy meals, cleaning my house, sleeping enough, and using stress form a positive angle. But even when I know how my body and mind are influenced by art, I don’t think, “Oh I should create something this week”, We are not trained to think this way. I guess as Artist taking time to create something, might feel like more work. But we can create something far from our field, and benefit greatly.
I was totally intrigued by the title of this article, but once I began reading, it came as no surprise to me at all that the arts can help stimulate a healthy body and mind. I myself make a point to see art in some form or another at least a few times per month. The feeling I get from seeing exciting work-- which for me tends to be found in museums, galleries, and theaters-- is, in a word, restorative. My grandfather regularly goes to an elderly day care facility, and has recently taken up painting for recreation there. It is his first time properly trying to paint, and he’s discovered that he has a real knack for it (even my art school alum mother is impressed). The painting classes have given him not only something to look forward to, but something to be proud of, something to get better at, and something he can leave behind. Seeing the way that art has affected my grandfather makes this article feel very personally true, and I hope more people learn to take the arts seriously in the world of mental and physical health.
I think a lot of people in the arts are initially drawn to it at least in part because of the fulfilling and healing qualities of it and this article supports that idea. I agree that this thought is completely right, however my experience is in professional theatre it is a not uncommon occurrence for people to push themselves into unhealthy practices in order to try and achieve the art they’re trying to create. I think the students at CMU’s school of drama are an excellent example of this frequently not eating enough and getting only a handful of hours of sleep at night to try and accomplish their creative goals and class assignments, things that frequently overlap. The argument of course can be made that once you choose something as your career it could lose these qualities it has for other people. I don’t think theatre can really lose this healing quality that it has the potential to have but even if it is chosen as a career path and it loses this healing quality then it shouldn’t then take away from your health as a trade, we must preserve our own self interests.
This is such an interesting concept and something that I whole heartedly agree with. I have had this conversation with my mom a whole bunch of times that when I am feeling sad or angry all I want is to watch a movie or to see some theater and that the catharsis of that is worth so much to me, It makes me feel better than when I sleep or go to the gym or even go to therapy. The problem with that is that most of the people who feel like I do end up choosing a career in the arts and then that catharsis is limited if not completely gone and it creates a poor work environment. It allows people to say well because we love this thing we have to give it everything we have and jeopardize our mental and physical health to get it done. There has to be a middle ground and I have spent just as much time in college learning how to manage people as I have trying to find it. I'm not sure if I ever will but in acknowledging that art is a huge source of happiness for people we must also acknowledge that that happiness comes with an asterisk.
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