Can Art Cure Depression?
Depression is a widespread mental health disorder that is inclusive of all regardless of age, sex, background, socioeconomic status, or ethnicity. Throughout history, many artists were believed to be depressed. Poets, such as Sylvia Plath, and painters, such as Francisco Goya, lived with intense anguish; however, it remains uncertain whether art functioned as an emotional outlet or if rather, their art was a physical manifestation of the torment they were experiencing internally. Independent of their exact relationship, depression and art are inextricably linked. In turn, this prompts a larger question: can art function beyond emotional and creative expression, and play a legitimate role in clinical care?
While conventional care plans such as pharmacotherapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy are effective for the treatment of depression and other related disorders, on their own, they may not always be the best course of intervention. The memoir Darkness Visible, written by William Styron, examines one type of nontraditional treatment that was introduced to him for his depression: art therapy. In his experience, he viewed this specific mode of care as “organized infantilism” (Styron, 52) and mocked it as a viable course of treatment. Despite his specific experience, there is notable evidence that this treatment can be successful. While individuals suffering from depression, such as Styron, viewed art therapy with skepticism, contemporary research suggests that creative practices have evolved into data-bolstered, adjunct treatments for depression.
Supported by various research studies, art is believed to be a successful non-pharmacological, complementary therapeutic treatment for depression and other related psychological disorders. Art therapy is defined as a psychotherapeutic approach that uses active art-making and creative processes to provide individuals with an outlet for emotional and experiential expression in a nonverbal fashion (“What Is Art Therapy?”). Art therapy has been shown to be an effective method when individuals are struggling and their pain supersedes the abilities of words and language. One literature review found that art therapy has been effective in reducing symptoms associated with mental illness across a wide range of conditions, including dementia, anxiety, and Alzheimer’s Disease. The studies reported positive outcomes, such as decreased psychological symptoms, enhanced emotional expression, and improved cognitive engagement (Hu, Jingxuan, et al) among their respective cohorts. As art therapy has become more widely accepted as an adjunct mental health treatment, interest in it has escalated. This increased recognition has in turn led to a rising body of research aimed at examining and measuring its impact, particularly in the treatment of depression.
One meta-analytical review substantiates the claim that various forms of art therapy can significantly reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression; and in this analysis, specifically in women also diagnosed with breast cancer. This investigation reviewed 17 controlled trials, representing a variety of treatment methods, lengths, and clinical contexts. In total, there were 1,237 participants: 617 individuals treated with art therapy and 620 participants in the control group. These studies presented statistically significant results demonstrating the effectiveness of art therapy as a treatment for depression and as a component of psychosocial oncology care for female breast cancer patients (Huang, Tangsen, and Xiangdong Yin). Outcomes such as the ones from this study dispute Styron’s skepticism toward art-based interventions, suggesting that practices that were once dismissed as simplistic may offer considerable psychological support when grounded in structured therapeutic frameworks.
Another treatment population explored was pediatric cancer patients; this meta-analysis investigated the effects of art therapy on depression and anxiety within this group. The review included eight studies, three randomized controlled trials and five quasi-experimental studies, involving 452 participants from across five countries. This systematic review indicated that anxiety was significantly reduced in the experimental groups who participated in art therapy, as compared to the control groups. Furthermore, art therapy was seen to significantly decrease depression symptoms in all but one study. When considering other existing literature on art therapy that posits it as a legitimate tool for depression treatment, the researchers concluded that the discrepancy may have been due to methodological error or reporting bias within that specific study. The collective results in this analysis demonstrate a significant decrease in depression and anxiety symptoms from those participating in art therapy; a result that is in accordance with other studies examining this therapeutic approach (Zhou, Shishuang, et al.).
While many analytical studies included participants with comorbid conditions, there are limited meta-analyses examining the specific effects of art therapy among individuals solely diagnosed with depression. One specific literature review analyzed 10 various pediatric and adolescent based studies and then synthesized the results of 657 participants across multiple artistic modalities, including visual art, music, and dance. The analyzed studies had a total of 333 individuals in the control group and 324 individuals in the treatment group. The data analysis displayed a statistically significant reduction in depressive symptoms among participants receiving art therapy compared to control conditions (Zhang, Bo, et al.). These findings demonstrate that art therapy has the potential to be utilized in the treatment of depression. By presenting measurable improvements in individuals diagnosed exclusively with depression, this research strengthens the claim that art therapy functions not only as adjunct supportive care but also as a targeted therapeutic intervention in its own right.
While these various meta-analyses display promising results for the efficacy of art therapy as an adjuvant treatment for depression and other related psychological disorders, each has confronted the issue of heterogeneity among its samples. A more focused randomized-control trial examined the effects of art therapy as an additional treatment option for depression and related mental health disorders in a specific population: elderly women. This study split its cohort of women into two equal groups: the experimental group, those who would participate in art therapy, and the control group, those who would continue their original treatment without any art-based additions. As measured by the Geriatric Depression Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, and Beck Anxiety Inventory, the people who participated in the weekly art sessions demonstrated a significant reduction in both depression and anxiety, as compared to those in the control group who were only receiving pharmacotherapy (Ciasca, Eliana C., et al.). The quantitative and qualitative success of these art sessions suggests that creative expression can function within clinical frameworks as a method of improving emotional experience, in addition to traditional therapy or pharmaceuticals.
Although art has been used as a form of creative self-expression and as a therapeutic ritual for hundreds of years, dating back to the Navajo sand paintings, research on it as a psychological discipline and as a treatment method for individuals suffering from psychological disorders is still relatively new (Junge, Maxine Borowsky). Because Styron’s experiences in Darkness Visible reflect the mental health landscape of the 1980s, his skepticism toward art therapy also highlights how psychological treatment has continued to evolve, with both traditional and nontraditional approaches increasingly exploring ways to address depression, without relying solely on psychopharmaceutical interventions. For this field to maintain its credibility as an effective non-pharmacological complementary course of treatment for depression and other related mental health disorders, further studies must be done. Organizing additional randomized controlled trials for a variety of patients– inclusive of age, comorbidities, race, sex, and other associated social determinants of health– must be conducted in order to minimize bias and establish a clear cause-and-effect relationship between the treatment and the improved mental health status. As contemporary healthcare increasingly emphasizes evidence-based practice, more research will allow for the further popularization of art therapy as another treatment for psychological disorders.
Works Cited
Ciasca, Eliana C., et al. “Art Therapy as an Adjuvant Treatment for Depression in Elderly Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial.” Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 40, no. 3, Feb. 2018, pp. 256–63. PubMed Central, https://doi.org/10.1590/1516-4446-2017-2250.
Hu, Jingxuan, et al. “Art Therapy: A Complementary Treatment for Mental Disorders.” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 12, Aug. 2021, p. 686005. PubMed Central, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.686005.
Huang, Tangsen, and Xiangdong Yin. “Exploring the Benefits of Art Therapy for Anxiety and Depression in Women with Breast Cancer: A Meta-Analytical Systematic Review.” Journal of Psychiatric Research, vol. 189, Sept. 2025, pp. 403–14. ScienceDirect, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2025.05.027.
Junge, Maxine Borowsky. “History of Art Therapy.” The Wiley Handbook of Art Therapy, Wiley Blackwell, 2016, pp. 7–16.
Styron, William. Darkness Visible. 1. publ., Repr, Cape, 1991.
“What Is Art Therapy?” American Art Therapy Association, https://arttherapy.org/what-is-art-therapy/. Accessed 10 Feb. 2026.
Zhang, Bo, et al. “The Effect of the Art Therapy Interventions to Alleviate Depression Symptoms among Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” Clinics, vol. 80, May 2025, p. 100683. PubMed Central, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinsp.2025.100683.
Zhou, Shishuang, et al. “Effects of Art Therapy on Psychological Outcomes among Children and Adolescents with Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies, vol. 25, Apr. 2025, p. 149. PubMed Central, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-025-04866-2.
