Creativity is not just for artists, not just for businessmen looking for a new way to make more money, not just for engineers coming up new innovations. One important way that creativity can positively affect lives is by helping treat mental illness in art therapy, by affecting the brain (neuroscience) in creative process and how that would be beneficial to patients having mental disorder, by providing patients an emotional outlet and by promoting self-esteem thus aid patients going back to society.
In Dr. Mercola's article Mental Health Disorders Now Leading Cause of Non-Fatal Illness Worldwide, he indicated '' according to a recent study published in The Lancet, mental disorders and substance abuse combined were the leading cause of non-fatal illness worldwide in 2010, contributing nearly 23 percent of the total global disease burden''(1). A good friend of mine has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder recently. She is also an art student like myself. We talked about how she is going through art therapy and how being creative helps the condition. Maintaining creativity in your lifestyle has shown to have positive effects on an individual's psychological stability. .
According to Bethesda, she addresses that '' a mental illness can be defined as a health condition that changes a person's thinking, feelings, or behavior (or all three) and that causes the person distress and difficulty in functioning''(1). There are several key thought processes that shape society's idea and treatment of mental disorders and illnesses throughout history. Hinshaw suggested that a commonly attempted explanations for behaviors characteristic of mental disorders and illnesses are the belief that the conditions and behaviors associated with untreated disorder are the result of demonic possession or influence or the work of mysterious "evil" forces, and the idea that the behaviors are the result of contagious disease or physical ailment (54).
