Art As Therapy: How It Can Help People Through Hard Times

Life is not always easy. On the contrary, sometimes we go through really hard times, and, like it or not, that’s how lifes says hi. But we can always find comfort in something, someone or a hobby. It is important and beautiful to discuss how to find it in art. 

Usually, the expression “art can save” is not taken seriously, but what if it was proved by doctors that it can help in treatments? Art as therapy is taken as a protocol to help patients in hospitals to feel better faster. It is a form of communication, a representation of a person’s life. 

The easy way

Facing hard times isn’t great, but the way we look for situations can change it, or at least help to make it better. And art can be very helpful. 

It is proven that listening to music, drawing or playing an instrument, can help in cases of anxiety and depression, getting your mind out of daily problems. In a hectic routine that demands a lot from you, art can be a breather, an open window to life.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 11 million Brazilians suffer from depression, and art therapy can be very useful to stimulate inner growth and broaden the individual awareness. It opens new horizons and contributes to the solution of internal conflicts and the change of behaviors, besides being a pleasurable process, explains the neuropsychologist Otília Rosângela Souza.

I can say, as a personal experience, how art saved me. In July 2022, I was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and, while I was in the hospital, I always listened to music. It brings me life and hope, it is a way to recover breath and keep going, even with fear. 

It’s okay to be afraid, you just cannot allow fear to stop you. And you can find this courage in a movie that makes you laugh, a book that awakens your love, a song that moves you to tears, a picture which gives you longing. It is an escape from the bad moment you are going through.

Escape

For some people, art is an outbreak from reality, that makes seeing life in another way, an easy way. 

Sometimes, people that we don’t even know are passing through bad times, and we can send and share love through music, movies and many other ways. It can show that we care and support them.

João Pedro (18), who has been through some hard times, is “passionate about art”, which is his support and perspective of life. “Listening to good music, watching a funny TV show or playing a game that I like brings meaning to my life”, he says. 

The teenager adds that games are misinterpreted by society, because they are a big type of art where you can create your own way of playing, your own story.  “It is an escape from reality, a place where you can be 100% happy by yourself, enjoying your own company. It needs to have more space in Brazil. It’s my reason to be alive”, completes João.

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The article above was edited by Milena Casaca. Liked this type of content? Check out Her Campus Casper Libero for more!

• anxiety
• art
• art therapy
• books
• depression
• mental health
• movies
• music