14 May Art Relieves Stress and Makes Happier
Vincent Van Gogh Felt Better With Art
Dealing with artistic activities, namely artistic creations are great way to Express. It is a type of language that you can communicate with. On the other hand, according to studies, consuming art, that is watching, listening, feeling and appreciating, is also good for mental distress such as anxiety and depression by reducing the stress of illness like; cancer, alzheimer, depression, anxiety or children and adult people who needs special approaches and their relatives. It is very important for cancer patients to be healthy both physically and mentally. In this article you can fin how we can feel beter with art and one famous artist example; Vincent van Gogh.
We would like to talk about first; some studies in which the effects of watching and appreciating artworks with different groups of patients. Second; Van Gogh’s life and how he managed with art.
In one study, it focuses on anxiety, depression and other emotional symptoms related to the disease experienced during the period from the first time the disease is learned to the treatment process and after. Sessions to examine, talk, appreciate and criticize works of art that are applied regularly based on art therapy techniques are held with cancer patients. After that, it is supported by creative art therapy applications based on artworks. It is continued for a month, two days a week, and for a year in different patients.
The physical effects of stress caused by cancer are examined under 5 headings.
1- Heart rate
2- Respiration
3- Blood pressure
4- Body temperature
5- Pain
In addition to physical negative effects, stress; It harms and tires emotionally and socially. Reasons such as sadness, anxiety, depression, feeling worthless, self-isolation, and damage to relationships directly push the patient to unhappiness. According to this research, such stresses caused by cancer were evaluated as follows:
According to another study conducted in London on the same subject, it shows that visits to galleries or museums significantly lower cortisol (stress hormone) levels. In the stressful, busy and crowded city life, it is very difficult to try to protect our physical health and fight cancer while also trying to protect our mental health. Actually, all this struggle is for a healthy and happy life. Even a 30-minute gallery visit in the afternoon can be enough to relieve our stress, regulate our blood pressure and be a little bit happier. In the museum, patients liked to see Van Gogh’s art Works. Let’s see how art effected his life.
Vincent van Gogh, in full Vincent Willem van Gogh, (born March 30, 1853, Zundert, Netherlands—died July 29, 1890, Auvers-sur-Oise, near Paris, France), Dutch painter, generally considered the greatest after Rembrandt van Rijn, and one of the greatest of the Post-Impressionists. The striking colour, emphatic brushwork, and contoured forms of his work powerfully influenced the current of Expressionism in modern art. Van Gogh’s art became very popular after his death.
Van Gogh worked for Goupil in London from 1873 to May 1875 in Paris. He formed a taste for Rembrandt, Frans Hals, and other Dutch masters, although his preference was for two contemporary French painters, Jean-François Millet and Camille Corot, whose influence was to last throughout his life. Van Gogh disliked art dealing that is one reason he had humble life.
In the winter of 1879–80, he experienced the first great spiritual crisis of his life. Living among the poor, he gave away all his worldly goods in an impassioned moment; he was thereupon dismissed by religion authorities. Van Gogh worked hard and art was the best friend and best medicine for him. He painted three types of subjects—still life, landscape, and figure—all interrelated by their reference to the daily life of peasants, to the hardships they endured, and to the countryside they cultivated. Even he felt too isolated, he was expressing himself through his paintings.
As a result; scientific researches suggest that; if we see more art we can feel beter. Also even succesfull artists; like Van Gogh, found a way to feel beter in art. Stay with art, be safe with art.
Vincent van Gogh: The BedroomThe Bedroom, oil on canvas by Vincent van Gogh, 1889; in the Art Institute of Chicago.
References:
- Art therapy based on appreciation of famous paintings and its effect on distress among cancer patients. US National Library of Medicine National
Institutes of Health Qual Life Res. 2017 Mar; 26 (3): 707-715.
- RAPPAPORT, L. (2013). Mindfulness and the Arts Therapies, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London.
- WINNICOTT, D. W. (2016). Art Versus Illness: By Adrian Hill, Oxford University Press, England.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica (Jul 25, 2020) Vincent van Gogh Dutch painter, www.brittanica.com
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