Operators such as Morgans and Miraval which offer mindfulness colouring sessions and art therapy could be doing more than just helping guests to unleash their inner creativity. A new study by Drexel University, USA, has found that whether you’re a Van Gogh in the making or a stick-figure sketcher, making art significantly reduces stress-related hormones in your body.

Although researchers believed that those who had past experience in creating art might have an advantage, their study found stress-reducing benefits across the board.

“It was surprising and it also wasn’t,” says Girija Kaimal, assistant professor of creative arts therapies. “It wasn’t surprising because that’s the core idea in art therapy: everyone is creative and can be expressive in the visual arts when working in a supportive setting. That said, I did expect that perhaps the effects would be stronger for those with prior experience.”

Freestyle art
For the study 39 adults, aged 18 to 59, participated in 45 minutes of art-making and just under half of them described their art experience as “limited”. Levels of the stress hormone cortisol were recorded via a saliva sample before and afterwards.

Materials available to the ‘artists’ included markers and paper, modelling clay and collage accessories. As it was a freestyle session, no directions were given as to what materials to use and participants could create anything they desired. An art therapist was on hand to help if requested.

Cortisol reduction
The results of the study, published in the journal Art Therapy*, showed that cortisol levels went down in 75 per cent of the participants during their 45 minutes of making art. And while there was some variation in how much cortisol levels lowered, there was no correlation between past art experiences and lower levels.

Written testimonies of their experiences afterward revealed how the participants felt about the creating art. “It was very relaxing,” one wrote. “After about five minutes, I felt less anxious. I was able to obsess less about things that I had not done or need[ed] to get done. Doing art allowed me to put things into perspective.”

It was revealed that the younger study participants had the lowest levels of cortisol. As a result, Kaimal suggested that they may find using art as a form of de-stressing to be particularly effective.

Kaimal, G et al. Reduction of Cortisol Levels and Participants’ Responses Following Art Making. Art Therapy. May 2016