Summer 2020
Art Fights Back:
Battling Stigma Through Creative Processes
by Huck Talwar
There is something particularly influential about art. It reflects life, but in a light that we may not have seen before. Art is not only a therapeutic tool to help people with behavioral health challenges, but a way to reduce the stigma associated with them as well. Art is creative, productive, and can be an effective way of taking a closer look at behavioral health. It is beneficial for the creator and consumer alike, reducing internal stigma by exploring the inner psyche to become less inwardly judgmental, and external stigma by depicting mental health and substance use challenges in a way people may not be used to seeing.
Perspective is something that seems stationary at times but isn’t always so. Art is the perfect way to shift or add perspective to any given situation. For example, have you ever seen a depiction of depression portrayed in art as a monster, a looming cloud of self-deprecating words, a 3,000-pound weight on a person’s chest, etc? These monsters, clouds, and weights can feel all too real, at least to the artist. Metaphors like these help to create an effective way of communicating what both mental health and substance use challenges can feel like. That is the kind of power that art has—it can fight the stigma by creating a different way of understanding what these challenges are and how they affect those with it.
Art isn’t reduced to just pen on paper, nor paint on canvas. Art can mean just about anything creative. Writing a poem or essay, playing an instrument, dancing, acting, and so much more are healthy forms of self-expression. People around the world are using art as a way to fight stigma. Mashable notes five artists who are doing just that with photography, illustration, body paint, and more. Another individual illustrated his interpretation of different mental illnesses so people could see how they feel to the person dealing with them. Sharp lines as well as stark whites to contrast dark blacks create an image that is both stunning and shocking. While these artists are creating depictions of what struggling with the challenge feels like to them, others are creating artwork about the process of recovery. Hilary Gleason created Backline, an effort to connect musicians and those around them with resources for substance use disorders, as it has been a growing problem in the music industry. Artists like Demi Lovato, Pink, Kelly Clarkson, and more have written songs about their recovery from substance use and related mental disorders. This showcases not only the reality of living with a behavioral health disorder, but the process of recovery and the notion that it recovery is indeed possible. Endeavors like these are great ways to display not only the beautiful artwork itself, but the message behind it, too. Spreading the truth about these challenges is an effective way of fighting stigma because it is countering common misconceptions, like the notion that recovery is linear. In reality, it is a process that includes ups and downs, moves back and forth. Having an emphasis on recovery rather than just the symptoms of any given challenge is a great way to bring attention to another aspect of behavioral health.
The fantastic thing about art is how personal it can be. Art therapy is something that has been around since the 1940s, when artist Adrian Hill discovered its benefits as he was recovering from Tuberculosis. In the mid-40s, U.S. psychologist Margaret Naumburg referred to her work as art therapy, and it took off from there! Once she created the Walden School, people attended to further their development through creative processes, such as visual arts and performing. The best thing about this kind of self-expression is that there are no rights or wrongs. From subject matter to shapes to colors and everything in between, it is completely up to the artist to depict their own conscious—and even subconscious—mind. There is a certain catharsis that comes with making art—smearing paint on a canvas, feeling the vibration of sound, getting thoughts out on paper, etc.—in the sense that the artist gets to share their own personal story without fear of interference. However, art is not just personal to the artist. Art consumers have their own individual experience and interpretation. That interpretation plays a big part in breaking the stigma, namely by the consumer acknowledging any preconceptions they had about behavioral health. While making artwork can be extremely healing, consuming it might be a little different. Consumers of art can understand better, or, in part of their interpretation, they can identify with what the artist is conveying. Consumers all get something different out of experiencing a piece of art. This is especially true for art that reflects mental health challenges. They are often taken lightly because of a lack of physical symptoms, but the art that embodies such subject matter can show what these challenges feel like to the people who experience them, and just how serious they can be.
Using art to fight behavioral health stigma can be an incredibly effective communication tool. Not only can it help communicate the life and experiences of the artist, but also the possibilities as to how a behavioral health concern can affect someone. 50–80% of the human brain deals with processing visuals, like shapes, colors, movement, patterns, and more. Because of this, visual art may reach an audience that words might not be able to. Portraying one’s personal truth through art will draw attention to the varying new perspectives by which to look at these challenges. Many artists are using their talents to fight stigma, and you may want to try it, too! Even if your intention is not to fight stigma, the use of art as a form of release is a healthy and effective one. Regardless of whether you have a mental health or substance use challenge or not, self-expression is helpful to mental and emotional health by nurturing creativity. If you have the means to make art yourself, give it a try!