Art as a Relief for Mental Health
- Our Virtual Studio
- Sep 18, 2021
- 6 min read
Author: Farah S, 4th of September 2021
Ah yes... the topic of mental health and art! It doesn’t sound unfamiliar to all of us.
Art can provide significant relief to help those who suffer from loneliness, are in distress, experiencing despair, or having suicidal thoughts especially in this pandemic time.
In fact, in many cases, art can ease chronic mental health conditions by distracting people from their discomfort by allowing them to focus on a positive experience, which in turn, gives them a sense of achievement, helping them express their feelings and reinforcing their strength of character.
September is the awareness month for suicide prevention. With the World Suicide Prevention Day itself falling on September 10.
I don’t know, these are just my random thoughts. However, out of nowhere, the importance of our health suddenly stood out in my mind; especially during this pandemic. How convenient for the cause of concern in these thoughts to relate to this month’s awareness theme!
All of sudden, the pandemic sparked the whole world and burdened us with worrying death tolls and the boredom from staying in isolation. Many people died from the coronavirus.
This new virus has caught us off guard in many ways. We didn’t get to prepare much with the lack of clear awareness and knowledge about the new virus which caused a chain of concerns ranging from our physical health, the vaccines, the economic crises, and most importantly, the negative effects on our mental health.
As we begin to get the grip and start processing how to deal with these new norms of life. It’s remarkably important to reach out through various platforms to the people that we are utmost comfortable and closest with especially when the pandemic is leveraging us to use digital technology.
With regards to this, what does art have to do with our lives and be a source of motivation? In general terms, any kind of art can help people escape their negative thoughts and frustration for the day. Regardless of whatever type of art it is. Any artistic expressions like playing musical instruments, singing, dancing, painting, writing beautiful poetry, journaling, making clay art or even mastering the art of self-love and self-care! Lest we forget, all those arts help us escape from the pain and stressful life.
In times of greater uncertainty brought by unpredicted situations, such as the world now striving through the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak, we are sometimes pushed to reduce our discomfort by moderately dismissing alternative behaviours and avoiding information that disconfirms our previously acquired beliefs, behaviours, or cognitions. (Baker et al.,2020)
The tension produced by inter- or intrapersonally inconsistent (i.e. ambiguous) thoughts, attitudes, perceptions, or behaviours is what Festinger (1957) referred to as “cognitive dissonance.”
In light of these trying times like the current pandemic, an adaptive response required of us “to live with uncertainty”, which involves living with the dissonance for a while rather than jumping immediately to a self-justification” (Aronson and Tavris, 2020).
According to Hillman (1988), he believed that arts are not just hobbies, but activities that might “challenge collective anaesthesia.” Without our practice of art, we would become insensible towards each other and emotionally numb to our environment.
Self-love, as Aristotle tells us, is derived from one’s love of the good; it is only insofar as one sees one’s activity and one’s life as a whole as something beautiful and good in itself that one can exhibit self-love.
Loving the self is an art.
Well, when we talk about self-love, how do you fall in love with yourself?
How do you manage to take care of yourself especially during this pandemic?
To me, it’s accepting who you truly are and knowing that the true potential and strengths within you are the best.
Acknowledging the bad, embracing the good and growing from the experiences in life. Make more mistakes and learn from them rather than never trying at all, particularly when we are young.
Sometimes this may sound cliche to some people, however during this pandemic, we tend to hit ourselves in negative situations sometimes, like overreacting to ourselves and overthinking all the redundant things that we shouldn’t be considering given how insulting they are to ourselves. Nobody in this world wants to feel unwelcome regarding their sense of belonging. Everyone has their own style of living, opinions, personal choices and other unique kinds of stuff they admire. It is just how do we motivate ourselves to be alive and seize the moment?
How can self-love be motivational to us?
Having positive self-talk.
Saying the good things to yourself like “it is a chance to learn something new” for those who practically struggled with the new norms, whether in social life, studying or working, and saying “I can figure it out or I can overcome the challenges” when we are facing difficult tasks or activities.
Not to mention, saying good things like “I am always improving and I enjoy adapting myself by growing with the change that occurred.” during this pandemic.
Trust yourself in your journey to whatever path you want to succeed.
Practising self-gratitude and self-healing like I occasionally do recently by journaling, yoga and qigong for therapy and meditation.
Expect less and appreciate more.
Stop insulting and disrespect yourself when you are trying to compare yourself to someone else’s life. As the wise say “comparison is a thief of joy.”
At the end of the day, it is you vs. you. It is a battle between you in the past and you in the current situation. You matter. You are enough.
To some extent, I understand that we are living in a capitalist or industrialist society, where we always feel the need to be productive and be competitive on a global level.
As if every circumstance that either causes us to feel invalidated for not accomplishing something financially valorised as far as quality revenue driven business sectors; or proposes that in the event that we at any point unwind, that we are sluggish and ethically substandard. However, all things considered, the industrialist vampires make us work more and worry considerably more.
I think these expectations might be artificially manufactured to increase our anxiety and stress.
As I taught myself in response to these societal expectations, “this too shall pass”.
It means nothing in this world is permanent and all the bad situations will end soon.This statement makes me willing to stop putting the wrong things in and start putting the right things in. By considering this statement, start taking charge of where you point your flashlight and stop programming yourself with why the world isn’t working with you.
Other people’s validation does not define you at all. On deeper consideration, other people’s opinions about you aren’t your business at all. Focusing on it is only distancing from pursuing a more meaningful and satisfactory relationship with yourself via self-love.
Treating yourself as a best friend is an art. Of all the negativity and toxic situations, you need to take the step to find the best journey to be the best version of yourself. Firstly, by getting out of your comfort zone and also by starting to engage with the awesome and open-minded peers from OVS people from different backgrounds!
Take a deep breath and take it easy, one day at a time!
Recently, I became inspired by the beautiful poetry of a prominent Indonesian artist when I stumbled upon his work. He made it feel so calming. On hearing it, I found my inner peace. I released all of the pressure and found rest.
I am a fan of beautiful poetry and words. I love the natural beauty of poetry. And hence, why I love to read. I am always attached to Indonesian songs since my ancestors were among the Bugis tribe from Riau and Sulawesi. It wasn’t unusual to me.
Before I conclude, there is an interesting feature from Indonesia's singer, Kunto Aji's second album entitled Mantra Mantra which raises the issue of mental health. In one of the songs, Kunto Aji includes a sound frequency which according to research can make listeners feel better.
"Take a break from overthinking. Whatever happened yesterday was not purely your fault. You lost on one occasion, but could succeed on another next time," explained Kunto Aji. Here’s the lyric from his song, “Rehat”, which means, “rest”.
“Tenangkan hati
Semua ini bukan salahmu
Jangan berhenti
Yang kau takutkan takkan terjadi
Yang dicari hilang
Yang dikejar lari
Yang ditunggu
Yang diharap
Biarkanlah semesta bekerja
Untukmu...”
____________________________
“Calm down
All of this is not your fault
Don't stop
What you're afraid won't happen
What you are looking for is gone
The one being chased ran away
The awaited
That is expected
Let the universe work
For you...”
Song by: “Kunto Aji - Rehat”
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