How Art Can Calm the Mind

Art is an expression of thoughts and feelings, as well as an outlet for creativity. It is well known that mental illness fuels creativity, and being artistic can be a great therapy. The arts can be used as a natural way of calming the mind, and can contribute towards improving the state of your mental health.

As I've said, your mental illness can fuel your creativity; many famous artists and writers alike, are reported to have experienced mental health disorders. I'm not saying being mentally ill mean you will be able to make a living out of being an artist - obviously, if your skilled and passionate, go for it - but art is for us amateurs too.

Being creative can be an outlet for anger and frustration. This seems an obvious one, but think about how you feel after a good moan to a friend about the stress of life; this is how it can feel after expressing these emotions artistically. Indulging your creative side can also help with mental health problems such as anxiety; being artistic provides a successful distraction.

When choosing which method you will use to express yourself creatively, its up to you, but my advice for you would be:

• choose a method of artistic expression familiar to you (e.g. oils, watercolors, poetry, playing an instrument), or, alternatively, choose a couple of new creative outlets to try
• choose a method of creativity easily accessible to you
• don't worry about getting it perfect and, importantly, enjoy yourself!

Admiration of art can also contribute towards calming the undesirable symptoms of a mental illness. From watching a decent film, to reading a book of poetry, or a great work of literature, you can provide yourself with a healthy distraction from negative thoughts and emotions. Going to an art gallery can be both inspiring and uplifting. Visiting an art exhibition at a gallery has two major benefits for those of us diagnosed with a mental illness, especially those with an anxiety disorder; we leave the house and are provided with another healthy distraction. Many art exhibitions and galleries are free to enter - the Internet can be used to find out about free galleries or exhibitions near you - so don't let budget be your excuse not to go.

Expressing yourself through art, in any of its forms, can be a great outlet for unwanted thoughts and feeling, along with being a distraction from them. And, being a spectator of the arts can be extremely motivating.

I'd love to know what your thoughts are on what I have written and how the arts can help with mental health problems.

The Importance of Understanding Mental Illness

Mental illness is difficult to understand which can lead to prejudice and discrimination. Misperceptions surround mental illness and people get confused about the different mental disorders. I strongly believe, therefore, it is important to try to understand mental illness.

The importance of understanding mental illness is mainly down to the fact that this is the most effective way of battling stigma towards those who have been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder. It is also important due to the commonality of mental illness. 1 in 4 people are diagnosed with a mental disorder, this means that you or someone you love will be affected by mental illness.

Improving your understanding of mental illness is for everyone whether you have been diagnosed with a disorder or not. Learning about mental illness benefits those that have been diagnosed because demystifying your illness may calm any fears you have about it, as well as giving you the tools to manage it. Those with friends or family that have been diagnosed with mental illnesses benefit because it helps them understand suitable ways of helping them. Improving your understanding of psychiatric disorders also helps in the battle of defeating prejudice and discrimination towards mental illness.

Obviously, it would be foolish for me to suggest you find out everything there is to know about mental illnesses, even experts are nowhere near that point. However, a bit of knowledge and compassion can go a long way.

Essentially, understanding mental illness comes down to basic human compassion and empathisation. To understand diagnosed with a mental illness, listening to them and being there for them when they need you is probably the best thing you can do for them. This means you need to know how they are feeling and person is one of the best ways to find these things out.

Learning about specific mental disorders is also a very good idea, and it  doesn't have to be an expensive process either. There are several trusted resources and sources of information on the Internet (see the Links in my sidebar), or, alternatively, you could take trip to your local library.

Expanding on your understanding of mental illness will improve your relationships with other people. If you learn more about your illness and how to handle it, you will find your self-esteem will improve and you will be able to communicate your needs better. Learning about others' illnesses will help you be their for an ill friend or relative when they need you.

So, as you can see, in my opinion there are many reasons for improving your understanding of mental illness, whether you have been diagnosed with one or not. genuinely do believe that removing yourself from ignorance can help make the world a better place.

I would love to know how you think improving your understanding mental illness can help individuals and society.

What's My Diagnosis?

It is common for a person's mental health diagnosis to change on more than one occasion; it is also common for there to be a dual-diagnosis. This is because diagnoses overlap one another, making, it hard to pin-point the mental illness. My diagnosis has changed on a number of occasions.

The effect this has on the person, particularly long-term sufferers of mental illness, is that the medication will change throughout their treatment. This is often due to the undesirable side-effects some medications have, or it could be a case of just finding the right balance to keep that person stable.

It can also be distressing for the person as it can be confusing. Howvere, the label is more there for the psychiatrists - a person is more than their mental illness.

As I have mentioned before, mental illness is hard to define. A lot of people don't tell people their diagnosis out of fear of being labelled or judged, they may not even understand it themselves and feel others won't either. This is espcially true when the diagnosis changes!

Diagnoses do and will change; it is just something we have to live with The important thing to remember is that our diagnosis does not define who we are as a person. If you do feel the burden of your diagnosis, try to leave it at the doctor/psychiatrist's door.

Related Free Your Mind Posts:

What is Mental Illness?

What is the Free Your Mind Campaign About?

Free Your Mind is a campaign founded by me, Nicola Edwards. The aim of the campaign is to combat stigma towards mental illness through the use of art, music, film and culture. I came up with the idea for the campaign after suffering discrimination towards my mental illness for many years. And it was during a stay on a psychiatric ward, after suffering abuse at the hands of the staff, that felt something more needed to be done.

I am in my twenties and was first diagnosed with a mental illness when I was fourteen. However, I experienced ill-mental health before that point. My diagnosis currently stands at "Borderline Personality Disorder, with Schizoaffective Disorder."

I would like to share with you some of my poetry.

The poetry I have to offer you is all written by me ans was written whilst I was in hospital. At the time I was very angry as I felt I was being treated unfairly by the staff.


Crazy

Don't call me crazy
for I'm not mad,
these words mean nothing to me.

Cruel ignorance
displayed by fools
whose judgement means nothing to me.

'Psycho person'
'Mental freak'
'Crazy' means nothing to me.

Who are you to judge
my mental state?
Your opinions mean nothing to me.

You might hear me scream.
You might see me cry.
Tears mean nothing to me.

Don't call me crazy,
for I don't judge you!
Your words mean nothing to me.


Anger

Burning red
my anger bubbles
inside my loins
stirring
a tirade of screaming.
So loud. I cannot hear
the calm I've
surrounded
myself with.
So angry
leaving me
almost deaf,
unable to breathe.
Surrounding me
with red noise,
red water,
red boiling blood;
cold to the skin
trickling
downwards.
Burning red
my anger boils.


My Mind

My mind is right
My mind may be wrong
My mind is frazzled
and my thoughts are long.

My mind is pretty messy
My mind is hard to tidy
My mind is described as crazy
and my thoughts are pretty hazy.

My mind is me
My mind cannot be changed
My mind breaks down
and my thoughts are rearranged.

My mind is trapped
My mind wants to be free
My mind engages my mouth
and my thoughts tend to flee.


Life according to me

Believe it you can
do whatever you want
and be anything you want to be.

Life can be a bitch,
so go on and grab it by the leash.



Obviously Different

I'm obviously different
from person A
and person B.

But don't get me wrong
it's not my mental disorder that makes me be;

because that is just a small fraction
of what makes my personality.

They locked me up because
my mind was going crazed,
apparently.

Upon one look
they said I'm obviously different
and threw away the key.


My campaign differs from the hugely successful Time to Change campaign, and other similar campaigns, in my approach to tackling the issue of discrimination towards mental illness. I am utilizing arts and culture to raise awareness.

 Find out about my experiences with mental illness here.

Related Free Your Mind Posts:

Talking about stigma towards mental illness

Discrimination

Fashion and Free Your Mind

Following Free Your Mind Campaign

Discrimination

As with many others, I have faced discrimination because of my mental illness; for example, at school, from those around me, the police , and even within the psychiatric system. The level of ignorance scares me. Acceptance of others' differences seems so hard to come by.

Discrimination comes from prejudice, ignorance and fear, and doesn't come from open-minded, empathetic, caring people. People discriminate against what they cannot understand and mental illness definitely fits the hard to understand category. However this does not mean anyone has to stand for it!

My own experiences with discrimination because of my mental illness were what led me to start this campaign. In my opinion, mental illness is not talked about enough, and I believe that by getting tongues wagging we can beat discrimination. If people were more aware then the fear would be gone.

No-one deserves to be discriminated against for any reason, including their diagnosis. We are all human, and we all have the right to be treated equally.

Related Free Your Mind Posts:

Talking About Stigma Towards Mental Illness

What is the Free Your Mind Campaign About?

"Talking About Stigma Towards Mental Illness.."

'Crazy', 'mad', 'psycho' are all words that get bandied around willy-nilly. But having a mental illness does not make you any of these things. There are a lot of myths surrounding mental illness, leading people to make ill-informed comments.

Fear of mental illness is born out of prejudice and ignorance. People fear what they cant understand, especially something they cannot physically see. An open mind is needed when dealing with mentally ill-health.

Just because someone has a mental illness, this does not necessarily make them dangerous. The dangerous sufferers are usually under some sort of intensive care. Most of us have no intentions of hurting anyone.

Schizophrenia (psychosis) is largely misunderstood. As with most disorders, psychosis differs from person-to-person. I seldom hear voices, whereas others may hear them all the time. When hearing these voices it is hard to distinguish these as internal "thoughts" and they seem external. Auditory hallucinations can be accompanied with visual hallucinations. However, and it must be stated, psychosis does not necessarily make a person dangerous.

Psychosis can also be accompanied by paranoid thoughts; such as, the person believes they are being watched, or are an experiment, or delusions that they are a spy, or have special powers. To the person suffering symptoms it can all seem very real and they my be scared. Calling someone in this state 'crazy', or, a schizo, is thoughtless and cruel.

Mental illness can be understood if we are empathetic and open-minded. Watching what we say and what words we choose to use can make a huge difference, especially as mental illness is not commonly discussed - you don't know every one's situation or background.

Related Free Your Mind posts:

Discrimination

What is the Free Your Mind Campaign About?