Art-o-Gram: Art demonstrably helps against depression!

If you've recently found yourself embroiled in a discussion about the purpose of art , you can contribute some new arguments to the debate after reading this article, which discusses the proven benefits of art in treating depression:

It's quite well known that enjoying art is a good way to relieve tension and low mood, and this is practiced by many people – although very often only passively, with an iPod on. Almost all of us feel that simply listening to music helps the soul, and many can also feel that it can even ease physical tension.

But nobody can really explain exactly why this is the case; most doctors, in particular, tend to be rather reserved about it – art and music are not pills whose effectiveness has been tested in a study and proven (hopefully precisely enough and taking into account the side effects).

And yet, the effectiveness of art and music can be proven, just as required in medical science, in a study: Since 1984, the large-scale HUNT study, the Nord Trøndelag Health Study of NTNU, Norway's Technical and Natural Sciences University, has been running in Norway.

The study has now completed Phase 3; for over 25 years, the health of nearly 50,000 people in Nord-Trøndelag, a county in central Norway, has been closely examined. The study includes interviews, medical examinations, surveys, and blood and urine samples; the data collected is used to create detailed health profiles of the participants.

The study is taking place with approximately 1 percent of the Norwegian population, but this was not planned; significantly more people were invited to participate.

In any case, these are people with the most diverse social and economic circumstances, and so it cannot be due to early musical or artistic education or to having a lot of money for opera and theater tickets and frequent museum visits if the study has actually demonstrated a special effect of art and music:

The study found that people feel healthier and better overall when they have a keen interest in art and music. Men demonstrably suffer from depression less frequently, and women also benefit.

So it's scientifically proven: If you paint, go dancing more often, enjoy visiting exhibitions or playing a musical instrument – ​​or simply like going to the theater or concerts – then you probably feel healthier and are less depressed than people who don't do that.

This study also scientifically proved that you benefit from engaging with art, regardless of your "status" in society, whether you are an academic with a sophisticated artistic education or whether you started earning your living in a practical profession immediately after completing secondary school.

What truly matters is the cultural activity and cultural interest itself, not the cost of the artistic endeavor or experience. More information about the study can be found on the official NTNU Trondheim website.

Finally, here's a truly democratic path to better health – art can lift your spirits, and this positive effect is, thankfully, completely independent of your budget. Incidentally, it also applies whether you pick up a paintbrush yourself, browse for affordable or priceless artworks on Kunstplaza or in major auction houses and galleries , or travel to the next Venice Biennale. So you can treat yourself to something good with art, entirely according to your taste and ability.

The researchers explicitly warn against replacing a visit to the doctor with a visit to a museum, but this warning somehow reminds a rational person of the admonition on American microwave ovens that cats have no business being inside them – surely after reading this article you will not fall prey to the belief that a painting will soon come along and put a cast on your broken leg.

However, if you have already noticed that stress is having a noticeable impact on your health and that, in addition to sports and meditation, there are many other methods for stress reduction that usually involve new experiences, joy and pleasure, this article will confirm many pleasant feelings in a very positive way:

It is not merely a triumph that inspires you when you have completed a self-made work of art, it is not just the good conscience after visiting an exhibition, having once again done something for your education, but rather positive feelings with real physical repercussions that actually benefit your health.

The researchers/project directors involved in the study go so far as to suggest that the available options should be increasingly recognized as the most cost-effective preventative measures. In a healthcare system increasingly burdened by a multitude of health problems, it is essential to exploit all potential – and such considerations are becoming ever more prominent in the context of a growing focus on holistic, prevention-oriented medicine.

Art has long been used to support healing, for example in the therapy of mental and emotional disorders that severely affect those afflicted. This is something that the average iPod listener enjoying relaxation music is usually unaware of, yet it is true.

And it also makes a lot of sense art therapy to combat emotional distress, instead of treating patients exclusively with psychotropic drugs, which almost never lead to a cure for chronic mental illnesses, but almost always carry the risk of severely damaging side effects.

Furthermore, anyone who wants to do something good for their physical and mental health in terms of their diet should definitely rely on ginger root and turmeric as spices with numerous health-promoting properties and generously include them in their own diet and cooking plan.

Such art therapy, which as a side effect also brings those affected "quite simply among people", can have astonishing successes: Since 1997, "the free spirits, the intellectuals and the free" have been meeting at the TheaterAtelier Munich to counter the literally devastating loss of their partner, to fight depression, to keep bipolar disorders within tolerable limits or, after a burnout or other mental illness, simply to learn to enjoy interacting with people and life again.

For many participants, attending the day center's program helps them reduce their medication dosage and cope better with emotional distress. Some can even learn to perceive the positive effects of their mental illness in such a way that they can condense their experiences and express them in a way that touches others. You can find out more about this day center here: FOCUS Online: TheaterAtelier Munich.

The following articles also demonstrate that the use of art improves the healing effect on patients and promotes their recovery:

• HOSPITALS NEWS – Art helps heal
• Art in the clinic: Baselitz helps heal
• Münster newspaper: Art can also be medicine

This is essentially nothing more than a definition of the goals of an artistic creative process…