“Whether it is painting, knitting, writing, journaling, or any of the numerous other creative hobbies I have, the act of creating always helps me unwind because there is no pressure to create a certain way and I can express myself freely.”
“It is important to make sure that students have the time to explore their creative side for their own mental well-being; everyone needs a break every once in a while.”
—Youth Mental Health Council / Creative Changemaker Awardees #CreateConnectCare
Studies show what these young people quoted above know: that opportunities for creative expression benefit mental health and overall well-being. The arts foster imagination, offer new perspectives, and provide meaningful outlets for self-expression. A study by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and Adobe found that young people ages 13-25 reported greater confidence, identity development, and motivation, along with reduced stress and anxiety, when they had opportunities for creative expression. Creative activities can also strengthen social connection and a sense of community, and reduce isolation. Additional research has found that creativity positively impacts subjective well-being even when accounting for self-reported stress. The World Health Organization has likewise highlighted the important role of creativity and the arts in promoting health and wellness.
Today’s adolescents face significant pressures related to achievement, social belonging, extracurricular demands, and an increasingly digital world. When stress becomes chronic, it can contribute to anxiety, depression, and emotional exhaustion. Creative expression offers a healthy outlet for processing emotions, exploring identity, and finding moments of joy and calm. Activities such as art, music, writing, crafting, movement, and design can help adolescents regulate emotions while activating the brain’s reward systems associated with positive mood and motivation. Neurobiologically, creative expression can stimulate the release of dopamine and other neurotransmitters linked to reward and well-being, while lowering levels of stress hormones such as cortisol.
The benefits of creative expression are clear. Fortunately, there are many ways parents, caregivers, educators, and communities can help young people engage in creative pursuits.
Structured Activities and Classes
Many families recognize the value of enrolling children in art, dance, theater, music, or crafting classes. These experiences help younger children explore interests, develop skills, and find outlets for enjoyment and self-expression. As adolescents mature, however, they often seek greater autonomy in choosing how they spend their time, pursue their interests, and develop their talents. It’s natural for teens to outgrow the structured format of classes designed primarily to teach and guide.
Adolescents often engage most readily in creative opportunities that are embedded within their existing social environments. They may be more inclined to participate in activities offered through school or community organizations in which they already feel connected. Many middle- and high-school students look to their peers when deciding whether to join chorus, band, theater productions, poetry clubs, open-mic events, or arts-focused academic programs.
Unfortunately, schools and communities have seen a decline in arts-based extracurricular opportunities. Expanding access to these programs is an important area for advocacy, as funding for arts education and creative programming continues to face challenges.
Fortunately, many community organizations are working to fill this gap by creating accessible opportunities that help young people explore and express their creativity.
Grassroots Community-Based Efforts
One encouraging response to the youth mental health crisis has been the emergence of innovative community programs designed to support young people’s emotional well-being. Given the growing evidence linking creativity and mental health, programs that combine creative expression with connection and support can be particularly impactful.
Creative Visions’ #CreateConnectCare initiative has reported data-driven results showing the benefits of creative expression; for example, 76% of youth reported feeling positive emotions (inspired, happy, content, calm) when engaging in creative expression. This year-round global program, developed with and for young people, raises awareness about mental health, stress management, and self-care while providing opportunities for creativity. Participants are encouraged to share their work within their communities and with a broader audience, fostering both connection and purpose. Across post-submission interviews, young people consistently described creative expression as providing meaningful emotional relief: a way to process, articulate, and externalize complex emotions and internal experiences.
The gallery of creative works produced by these young people is both inspiring and emotionally resonant. The program also offers resources and campaign ideas that educators can incorporate into school settings, both within and beyond the classroom. Teachers frequently describe the positive impact that creative expression has on students’ emotional well-being and engagement.
Creativity Essential Reads
Our students created lots of projects during the #CreateConnectCare Challenge this year. We had art-related projects, kids created music, and they wrote poems.
We had conversations about stress, perfectionism, worry, and strategies for managing difficult emotions. These discussions opened the door to more meaningful conversations about mental health and created opportunities for connection among students.
All of these were amazing creative outlets for their own personal mental health, but also to show that as a school, we really truly want to be a place that’s safe and inclusive and value people’s mental health and mental health needs. —teacher participating in #CreateConnectCare
Another such organization is The Foundation for Art and Healing which sponsors Project Unlonely. It was developed by Dr. Jeremy Nobel, a long-time faculty member at the Harvard Medical School and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health whose teaching and research focuses on population health, social determinants of health, and the design and evaluation of health improvement intervention programs. These efforts are not exclusively for young people, though the project offers a wide array of resources through artistic media with a mission to improve well-being through the arts.
Simply sharing these resources with teens may hand them a powerful tool with which they can build resilience and improve well-being. These kinds of efforts also tend to be contagious, as adolescents are terrific at rallying others to participate in creative endeavors.
Encouraging Creative Expression at Home and School
One barrier to youth engagement in creative activities is the cost of materials. While some forms of expression, such as writing, require few resources, others may involve significant expense. When possible, consider setting aside funds for art supplies or musical instruments. Sponsor and encourage students to organize supply drives as a meaningful way to collect materials that can be transformed through creativity. And support creativity in all its forms. Even allowing your teen to choose the music and sing loudly in the car can provide a free (if not always auditorily pleasant) outlet for self-expression.
When a young person expresses interest in a creative activity, look for ways to support that interest by connecting them with materials, opportunities, and people who share their passion. With so many competing demands on caregivers’ attention, these interests can seem secondary and be easily overlooked.
Most importantly, remember that creative expression is not merely a hobby; it can be an important form of self-care. Let’s nurture the mental health and well-being of our young people by creating opportunities for them to express themselves, connect with others, and discover the power of their own creativity.
