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Juliet King: Art Therapy and Neuroscience: A Revitalized Synthesis

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Person-Centered Expressive Arts Therapy with Natalie Rogers

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Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Depression Video

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Expressive Arts Therapy Video with Natalie Rogers Video

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Expressive arts therapist, Natalie Rogers (daughter of famed humanistic psychologist Carl Rogers), demonstrates the power of moving beyond words and into the realm of art with a client struggling with feeling trapped in her tedious job, and unable to overcome her negative thinking.

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Expressive Arts Therapy and Trauma: Movement, Sound, Image, Performance with Cathy Malchiodi, PhD

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How art enriches our lives | Mikaela Milicuri | TEDxMolos Women

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How art and music helped me overcome my Complex PTSD | Deena Lynch | TEDxUQ

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The transformative power of classical music | Benjamin Zander | TED

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How playing an instrument benefits your brain - Anita Collins

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Sound Therapy for Anxiety and Stress: Jonathan Adams and Montana Skies at TEDxTelfairStreet

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Music Medicine: Sound At A Cellular Level | Dr. Lee Bartel | TEDxCollingwood

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"Your Behaviour Won't Be The Same" | Dr. Andrew Huberman (Stanford Neuroscientist)

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Death, grief and the arts by Stephen K. Levine.

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Creative Destruction and Transformation in Art and Therapy Reframing Reforming Reclaiming

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Antidepressant Drum Circles

As our scientific and cultural understanding of mental health continues to progress, finding solutions for people struggling with depression become increasingly important. Long gone are the days when people who were struggling with mental health issues were locked up in prison-like asylums. However, modern drugs can often have a similarly oppressive effect on sufferers, as people's emotional responses are numbed and they become unable to experience highs as well as lows.

These drugs are often thrown around without caution, and they fail to acknowledge the circumstances behind the individual's depressive state. They attempt to treat the symptoms rather than the root cause. A group of UK-based researchers seems to have found an unlikely cure - group drumming.

The study, which was conducted earlier this year, worked with a group of 30 adults who were already being treated for depression but had refused the use of antidepressants. The participants were split into two groups, one being assigned a 90-minute group drumming session once a week and the control group enrolling in quiz nights and other social activities. All drumming sessions were conducted on traditional African djembe drums, with the group sat together in a circle.

The ten-week study involved participants who were matched exactly regarding their ethnicity, gender, age and employment status. Over the course of the ten weekly observations, the groups were monitored psychologically and physically for signs of depression. The results were overwhelming!

After ten weeks the drumming group had significantly improved their mental health. There was a clear reduction in depression and anxiety, as well as a vast improvement in the social resilience of each individual involved. Physically, every member of the drumming group shifted from a pro-inflammatory immune profile to anti-inflammatory. The study proved both the benefits of communal drumming and the link between mental health and underlying inflammatory immune responses.

The control group saw very minimal improvements and in the follow-up tests three months later; the drumming group had maintained their improved state of mental health. One theory as to why the drumming circle works is that the activity of producing music, alongside the sense of community that the circle gave the participants, led to an increased feeling of fulfillment and gave them something to look forward to each week.

The reason for the vast improvement is open for debate. However, the results are indisputable. The ancient art of group drumming helps people with depression and boosts your health. These findings and other associated research could continue to alter the way we view and treat mental health issues.

It is a move towards a future where doctors recommend drug-free solutions that treat us all as individuals rather than treating mental health sufferers as broken cogs in the machine. A future set to the rhythmic sound of drums.

*Article originally appeared at The Hearty Soul.

Copyright 2013-2021 - permission to reprint our articles fully granted, WITH links to original story, our site, founder and her bio.

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As our scientific and cultural understanding of mental health continues to progress, finding solutions for people struggling with depression become increasingly important. Long gone are the days when people who were struggling with mental health issues were locked up in prison-like asylums. However, modern drugs can often have a similarly oppressive effect on sufferers, as people's emotional responses are numbed and they become unable to experience highs as well as lows.

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The next time you're blessed with that familiar, overwhelming sensation of stress -- when your anxieties turn from passing sensations in the brain to rude house guests overstaying their welcome -- I highly recommend breaking out your construction paper, model clay, glitter glue, feathers and pipe cleaners.

"I'm not an artist!" you might protest, recalling the ambivalent grin your parents flashed while hanging your elementary school masterpiece on the refrigerator all those years ago. But, no matter. Honestly, it does not matter. Science says so.

More specifically, Girija Kaimal, assistant professor of creative arts therapies at Drexel University, says so. Kaimal recently led a study examining the effects of making art on stress-related hormones in your body.

The results, published in Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, titled " Reduction of Cortisol Levels and Participants' Responses Following Art Making," found that 45 minutes of creative activity significantly lessens stress in the body, regardless of artistic experience or talent.

"It was surprising, and it also wasn't," Kaimal explained to Drexel Now. "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."

The study, co-authored by Kendra Ray, a doctoral student under Kaimal, and Juan Muniz, an assistant teaching professor in the department of nutrition sciences, invited 39 adults, ranging from 18 to 59 years old, to participate. Markers, paper, clay and collage materials were amongst the tools offered up to the participants, who were instructed to create whatever they so pleased over the course of 45 minutes, with no further directives. An art therapist was on site in case the participants had any questions or concerns.

Before the crafting commenced, researchers recorded the cortisol levels of the study participants. Cortisol is a biological indicator correlated to stress -- the higher your cortisol level is, the more stressed out you probably are. The participants also described their artistic experience prior to the study. Just under half described their art background as "limited."

After the very scientific craft party, researchers again tested the participants' cortisol levels. Approximately 75 percent of the participants displayed lower levels of cortisol, indicating lower stress levels. Although the exact amount of cortisol varied slightly amongst the participators, these levels did not correspond to their prior experience in the arts. Nor did they correspond with the artistic media the participants opted to work with, as Kaimal briefly suspected.

There was, however, a consistent correlation between younger participants and lowered cortisol levels, indicating that young people in particular could benefit greatly from the de-stressing powers of art. "I think one reason might be that younger people are developmentally still figuring out ways to deal with stress and challenges, while older individuals -- just from having lived life and being older -- might have more strategies to problem-solve and manage stress more effectively," Kaimal hypothesized.

In the future, Kaimal hopes to repeat the admittedly small study and test for additional biomarkers such as alpha amylase and oxytocin to get a fuller picture of the participants' inner states before and after therapeutic art-making.

In the meantime, though, Kaimal's results confirm what art junkies around the world know very well: Making art is actually, factually, good for the body, mind and soul. Even if said art resembles the deranged scribbles of a grumpy toddler.

BEFORE YOU GO

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Study Says Making Art Reduces Stress, Even If You Kind Of Suck At It

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The next time you're blessed with that familiar, overwhelming sensation of stress -- when your anxieties turn from passing sensations in the brain to rude house guests overstaying their welcome -- I highly recommend breaking out your construction paper, model clay, glitter glue, feathers and pipe cleaners. "I'm not an artist!"