Creativity and Mental Health Recovery Art

Words aren’t always enough to explain what mental health looks like.

How can we recognize depression or anxiety in ourselves or others? How can we show someone what barely makes sense to ourselves? Fortunately, heightened creativity is a common strength of mental health challenges.

Below are some of my favorite depictions of the progression of mental health recovery.

Some become experts at compartmentalizing. Locking difficult memories away can be a coping mechanism, especially when these memories are discouraging. However, some triggers may trigger a jack-in-the-box effect. Intrusive thoughts and memories are a common symptom of mental health challenges.

Going to therapy involves opening these doors gradually and taking an analytical look at what’s really inside.

Anxiety can feel like being stuck in the future. Being prepared can improve self-esteem, however playing through what-if scenarios for things unlikely to happen, may be unnecessary.

One friend also insightfully shared, “Even with all that worrying, I still end up worrying about the wrong thing…”.

Life happens. Part of reducing anxiety is believing that you can handle whatever comes your way.

Some things you also just can’t think through alone.

One of the symptoms of Depression is low energy and social withdrawal. I attribute part of those experiences to the pressures to remain put together and happy, even when internally struggling. This mask covers vulnerability and yet being inauthentic can be so draining.

It can be liberating to find someone safe enough to share some of the self-defeating beliefs stuck in your mind.

Although Depression and Anxiety can be extremely constricting, people can be quite adaptive. It takes people an average 10 years of privately struggling to reach out for mental health support.

You don’t have to wait any longer to free your mind.

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