Getting High on Recovery

Sometimes you don’t want to talk and you just want to do something. Art therapy may be exactly what you need for better mental health. 

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I felt like dying. Really. My depression and anxiety had crippled me and I needed to see a therapist.

Therapy helps, but talking may be overrated. I have had several therapists and talking only seemed to get me to a point. This time, I needed to be more active in my therapy. No disrespect to my different therapists, but the conversations seemed to be similar:

Me: “I need to talk about my depression.”

Therapist: “Great! Let’s talk about how you feel.”

Me: “I feel sad, anxious, depressed and hopeless.”

Therapist: “How long have you felt this way.”

Me: “I have had periods where I felt like this for as long back as I can remember…”

Talking about my childhood, my family relationships and how I feel about these things has helped. Each therapist has helped me immensely, but this time I needed more than talking.

What Do You Do When Talking is Not Enough?

Depression can feel like you have an enemy living inside, a personal terrorist. Sometimes you need to talk and sometimes you need to do something. As a creative person, art therapy intrigued me. It just makes sense that therapy should involve your body, mind and emotions; and that an active therapy will offer something different than simply talking. What I learned was that art therapy can be for anyone and it does not rely on any creative ability.

To read the rest of the story, follow the link How do I know that Art Therapy can be for anyone? 

Keep it Real

I am an Editor at The Good Men Project. You can find all of my GMP content by clicking here.

Originally published by SMSwaby at The Good Men Project.

Photos by garry knight, r. nial bradshaw, smswaby