Children who suffer asthma attacks have their anxiety reduced by participating in art therapy, according to a recent study. The results seem to indicate that art therapy might have benefits for children with any type of chronic illness.
An excerpt from the release:
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 7 million American children, or nearly one in 10, have asthma. The breathing disorder is a leading cause of school absences.
For children, “simply thinking about past asthma attacks can bring on feelings of anxiety,” the authors write, and anxiety can either precipitate an episode or worsen an otherwise mild one.
In art therapy, children work with crayons, paints, and other materials, guided by a therapist to express feelings that they may have trouble communicating in words.
“It’s not about painting pretty pictures,” Anya Beebe, an art therapist at the National Jewish Health in Denver who led the study, told Reuters Health. “It’s about helping people go deeper, and using art as a process to express and release their feelings.”