You know what inspired me to write this piece? It started with a simple message. I texted my dear Miramar Al Nayyar just to check how she was doing — and honestly, I hope you do the same for someone today, because sometimes the best support we can offer is a simple “How are you?”

She told me she is currently stuck in the mountains in northern Lebanon, with the airport in the city not operating. And then she said something that stayed with me: “I am trying to paint every day.”

That made me think about something important — art. Creativity really does help. It shifts your focus, gives emotions somewhere to go, and simply fills the space around you with something meaningful.

So how exactly does creativity help us process anxiety? Let’s look at it from a few different angles.

Throughout the history of art, many artists have used creative work as a way to process inner struggles. Vincent van Gogh lived with severe psychological distress, which many scholars believe is reflected in the dramatic colours and swirling movement of his paintings. Frida Kahlo, meanwhile, transformed chronic pain into deeply symbolic works exploring suffering and resilience.

Seen this way, creativity becomes a tool for expressing emotions that are often difficult to articulate — fear, grief, suffering, or loss. But art therapy isn't only about deep emotional healing. Sometimes its value lies in something much simpler: the way creative activity shifts the mind away from anxiety.

How does that work?

You may have heard that physical exercise helps reduce cortisol — the hormone associated with stress — allowing the body to cope better with pressure. Creative activity can work in a surprisingly similar way. Drawing, playing music, shaping clay, or even something as simple as planning a visual concept for your next Instagram reel can activate the brain in a way that gently redirects attention.

In simple terms, creative activity does three things.

One experiment illustrates this quite nicely.

In 2016, neuroscientist Girija Kaimal and her team at Drexel University decided to test something very simple: what actually happens in the body when people spend time making art.

They invited 39 adults between the ages of 18 and 59 and gave them 45 minutes with basic creative materials — markers, coloured pencils, clay, whatever they felt like using. Some of the participants had artistic experience, others had never really done anything creative before. Before the session began, researchers measured the participants’ cortisol levels — the hormone linked to stress. Then they measured them again after the 45 minutes of their creativity session.

The result was quite striking: around 75% of participants showed lower cortisol levels after the art session. And perhaps the most interesting part? It didn’t matter whether someone considered themselves artistic or not. In other words, the calming effect wasn’t about talent. It was simply about the act of making something.

So we know that creativity can help with anxiety. And we also know that it doesn’t really depend on artistic skill. What we haven’t discussed yet is the practical question: what should you actually do?

If you are already an artist, you probably have a natural starting point. But if you aren't, the whole idea can feel confusing. Do you just… buy some markers and hope for the best?

This is where another interesting experiment conducted by psychologist Jennifer Drake can help. The research looked at a simple question — which creative activities reduce anxiety the most.

Participants were divided into groups and asked to complete different tasks: free drawing, colouring structured patterns (like mandalas), and simple sketching. Before and after the activity, researchers measured participants’ anxiety levels using psychological tests.

Important note: all three activities reduced anxiety. But one worked noticeably better — structured colouring. The reason is likely that colouring repetitive patterns creates a rhythmic, almost meditative focus, similar to mindfulness practices.

So advice number one: order (or simply print those you find online out online) a few mandalas.

What else can work?

This approach is often connected to experiments by psychologist James Pennebaker, who asked people either to write about their anxiety or to draw it. Both groups experienced emotional relief, but drawing had an interesting effect: participants said that visualising their feelings helped them understand emotions they couldn’t easily explain in words.

Interestingly, this habit has also been studied by psychologist Jackie Andrade. In her experiment, participants who doodled while listening to a recording later remembered 29% more information than those who simply listened.

Researchers believe doodling keeps the mind lightly engaged, preventing it from drifting into anxious or repetitive thoughts — while also helping the nervous system settle down.

The Japanese art of paper folding works well as a calming activity because it combines repetition, focus, and small, precise movements. A small tip: once you understand the basics, try making the same figures with smaller pieces of paper. They require more attention and precision — which can make the exercise even more effective at calming the mind.