Study: Making Art Can Reduce Stress, Even If You’re Bad At It

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Painting and drawing sounds really relaxing, but if you’re not a natural Van Gogh, it could also be daunting. But just because you’re not skilled at making art doesn’t mean it can’t help you relax.

A new study from “Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association found that the process of making art can significantly reduce the level of stress hormones in the body, even if you don’t have past experience with art or the skills of a Renaissance master. This puts some scientific evidence behind the whole adult coloring stress-relief trend.

The study had participants play wth markers, paper, modeling clay and collage materials for 45 minutes, and they found that 75 percent of the participants showed a significant drop in cortisol levels. As far as talent went, there was no correlation between past artistic skill development and lower cortisol levels. This is good news for those of us who draw outside the lines.

Photo by dominicotine

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About the Author
Carina Wolff
Carina is a health and wellness journalist based in Los Angeles. When she’s not writing, doing yoga, or exploring mountains and beaches, she spends her time cooking and creating recipes for her healthy food blog, Kale Me Maybe. Carina is also an ongoing writer for Bustle, Reader's Digest, FabFitFun, and more.

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