How has art helped with mental illness?

It’s a good escape, even if you’re trying to escape from yourself. You can use it as something to focus on, you can use it to express how you feel when words aren’t available, there’s many things it’s helped people with, not just mentally ill ones, but everyone. I know of bi-polar people who use art as a way of controlling their emotion, they can zone out on their art and keep one mood going strong.

i draw when im depressed and cant get my hands on chocolate, or a coffee and ciggie, its really soothing for the mind and it allows you to pull a veil between feeling your emotions and dealing with them/expressing them

It can boost self-esteem, give a sense of control, increase self-awareness, manage behavior (keep someone calm and occupied), reduce stress, and help develop interpersonal skills.

they paint to express there feelings Edvard Munch who painted scream showed how he felt while walking with his two friends how he felt like a different person and the sky was changing colours,im not 100% sure if he had a mental illness though,and Van gogh suffered from depression alot which he expressed through the colours in his work aswell

[link removed] a website that offers a couple more explainations

http : // news . bbc . co.uk / 2 / hi / health / 2073018 . stm remove spaces, funadvice doesnt like links

It helps them express things that they cant with words.

all i know is that its soooooooooooooo soothing i can just paint all day till my daddy says bed time

It can help you feel better. Get things out by doing it. You can get stress out. Keeps them doing something. They can express stuff without people questioning it.