art therapy for the insomniac

Meditate on the thought that while you are up being a night owl you are in the perfect space to create. At night, you are able to shut off outside stimulates that are constantly jarring at you throughout the day. At this time, you are most vulnerable to your senses, and can experience your own feelings deeper. Many insomniacs feel depression at night yet they are still unable to sleep. Art therapy can free your mind and allow you to express yourself into relaxation.

Art therapy and expression has been studied in depression cases involving insomnia by leading scholars across the world and is now widely accepted by professionals. But, you don’t need a professional to express yourself, you merely need some inspiration – which you can find within you.

“Depression is a serious disease affecting an individual's entire life-situation, which can lead to great suffering and a reduced level of activity in everyday life. The aim of this study is to explore and describe how art therapy works for clients with depression. A systematic literature search of relevant databases was carried out to find articles concerning art therapy for depression, meeting criteria for reproducibility. This yielded 16 articles published in seven journals. The art therapy methods employed in each selected study were then examined and compared in order to understand the healing mechanism or mechanisms. These healing mechanisms are here termed “therapeutic factors”. The analysis resulted in eight therapeutic factors: self-exploration, self-expression, communication, understanding and explanation, integration, symbolic thinking, creativity, and sensory stimulation. No general conclusions could be drawn regarding circumstances, but the results indicate that art therapy can be performed successfully in a wide variety of clinical situations. The results are discussed in relation to International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) core sets for depression.” The Arts in Psychotherapy

Volume 40, Issue 3, July 2013, Pages 322–330

Art therapy works to allow creativity to flow out which allows positivity in. Imagine never being able to express your own opinion, feeling trapped inside your own mind. This is how many insomniacs using art therapy once felt at night. Art allows you to have a deeper understanding of your own soul and connect with the outside world in new ways.

“What is Art? It is the response of man's creative soul to the call of the Real.” Rabindranath Tagore

I challenge you who are reading this as a night owl to an art project if you can’t sleep right now. Your mind needs to be put at ease with your soul. It is time to color – contemplate – collaborate – create – to calm the chaos. Pick up a pencil, paintbrush, lump of clay, string of beads - get crafty and let your soul breathe a little.