“I often find it frustrating that I have a hard time finding the right words to express my emotions and ideas. Creating art allows me to have the piece speak for me, as well as showing the nuances of human thinking. ”

“Being creative helps me express my mental health because it gives me the chance to have a voice and to create something that will portray my own thoughts/feelings. ”

“Some things can be hard for us to say through words, but with art, we can say so much to help our community. Just like the saying “A picture is worth a thousand words”, we use art to express how we feel about certain issues. ”

“Creating art when I’m going through a rough time can create the most amazing and unique visual pieces I’ve made. It really helps me get through the lows of my mental health.”

“Creating art is what really helps me let all the emotions that have been built up in me. Whenever my pen touches the screen it makes me feel comforted and happy.”

“Creating and being creative helps me express my mental health since it lifts off stress and I can make my struggles into beautiful creations. ”

“Being creative helps me express my mental health by giving me different mediums such as art, music, and writing to allow me to take everything that I keep bottled up and clear it out of my mind. Creating is very beneficial for me when I feel down or feel like I am in a mental block when my headspace is not very clear. After making something as extravagant as a watercolor painting or as simple as journaling my thoughts, I feel like there is no longer the burden of what I was feeling prior to creating.”

“I take great importance in my mental health, and recognize when breaks and time for myself are needed. Doing creative things often helps me to de-stress and allows me to focus on something outside the box. Overall, creating whatever type of art has always helped me in rough times and helped me focus on my health, allowing me to be the positive and growing teen I am today. ”

“Being creative helps me cope and find a way to distract myself from anything that might make me feel not so good or express myself. Sometimes there’s just lyrics I relate to, or the melody or beat of a song that sounds like an emotion I’m feeling.”

“Being creative has been something I have always turned to as a mode of comfort. Whenever I would be feeling down, I would write, or draw, or dance to express my feelings. Dance has had a tremendous impact in pushing me to be myself today. It has taught me the importance of moving with your body and music, and showed me the beauty inside it.”

“Being creative helps me cope and find a way to distract myself from anything that might make me feel not so good or express myself. Sometimes there’s just lyrics I relate to, or the melody or beat of a song that sounds like an emotion I’m feeling.”

“There’s no restrictions when it comes to creating and I can quite literally put whatever I want on the paper. Or craft whatever I like. This kind of freedom is refreshing in contrast to my daily life where I don’t leave my house as often and haven’t seen all my friends for a while. But I can draw them, I can make friendship bracelets for them, and when I do so, all the memories we share together come flooding back to me. It’s a kind of release to remember all the good times and navigate through my artwork in such a way. The same applies to any anxiety I may be feeling. Art is a thought clearing pause in my life where I have hours to draw and not think about anything other than my drawing. It’s liberating.”

“It helps me a lot, and by that i mean it helps me forget all the bad things happening around this world, all the bad thing happening to me. It helps me express my experiences that are too difficult to put in to words. But overall it brings joy to my life. ”