Harnessing Creativity to Combat Depression (Evelyn)
When we are overwhelmed with the sense of hopelessness and despair that accompanies depression, life can feel meaningless. Depression can bring emptiness, one thing that contributes to feeling a lack of purpose. To reintroduce joy and feelings of satisfaction into our everyday lives, it is crucial to also reintroduce purpose. Feeling a lack of purpose in life can result in a lack of enjoyment from things that used to bring pleasure and isolation, both of which contribute to furthering depression. Purpose brings people together, fighting isolation. Thus, reintroducing a healthy, supportive, and uplifting purpose into your life can have immense benefits.
How Creativity Can Help
This is where creativity comes in. Dedicating time to cultivating creativity creates a sense of accomplishment, and this comes without the added pressure of fear of perfection or disappointment because it is purely for you. When we give ourselves time to create in a way that is not limited by the outside world’s expectations, we give ourselves the opportunity to explore, grow, and reflect. Creating in any shape or form can be a means to channel intense or overwhelming feelings, as well as encourage curiosity and inspire new ideas. Thus, creativity can provide a healthy purpose to one’s life as well as an opportunity for emotional regulation and release.
Creativity also fosters connections within communities. Creative pursuits like writing, painting, dancing, knitting, and more are all activities that provide opportunities for collaboration. Creativity can be a way of bringing people together through a shared interest, and this social aspect of creativity furthers the fight against depression by combating loneliness and isolation.
This is all to say that being creative is an extremely helpful way to combat depression because it introduces purpose, manages emotions, and brings people together. However, acknowledging that is the easy part. Figuring out how to introduce creativity into your life is the hard part.
Implementing Creativity
Creativity is a very broad subject. It is defined as “The use of the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work.” Using this definition, creativity could apply to almost any activity. This is very overwhelming, and I’m sure unhelpful, for finding ways to apply it to your own life. When it comes down to it, the important thing is to do something you enjoy but also to be open to trying new things.
Some of my favorite activities that I like to do after a long day of work are knitting, painting by numbers, coloring books, crocheting, playing the violin, or journaling. These activities are all pretty different, but they are all creative outlets for me.
Many people have already had experience with a certain creative hobby that they have just neglected for a bit or forgotten about. This is your sign to reintroduce that into your life. If you used to knit all the time but haven’t in forever because you’ve never been able to find time, dedicate one hour to knitting before bed, maybe while watching a show, and see how it feels. You could do the same for drawing, painting, playing an instrument, sculpting, dancing, and jewelry making. There are so many different ways to create, many of which are very accessible and require few materials to do.
Writing
A personal favorite of mine is writing. This can be writing short stories, poetry, or even just journaling. I think everyone could benefit from spending 10 minutes a night just to reflect on the day or answer specific prompts. Some of my favorite journaling prompts are:
What in my life are energy givers (what brings me happiness and fulfillment)? What are energy drainers?
What are five good things that happened today?
What am I insecure about?
What would my ideal day be?
Journaling helps me release and process my emotions at the same time. Studies have found that individuals who engage in journaling experience increased positive emotions and promote self-acceptance as well as increased relaxation (University of St Augustine for Health and Sciences). Introducing this simple activity into your daily routine can be very beneficial.
Conclusion
In summary, it is important for us to have purpose, and creating things can be a very useful way to gain purpose. Cultivating this creativity also has numerous other benefits, like facilitating connections within communities and providing an outlet for emotions. Hopefully after reading this, you are inspired to create and let your imagination run wild. Whether you are picking up an old hobby or trying something new, you are going to create a positive shift in your life.
If you are feeling like using creative writing to help those who down and need support, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us here at Letters Against Depression if you haven’t already. We send letters of hope and support to those who need someone there for them. You can request to receive letters here.