The relationship between art and mental health

There’s a widening gap between what research tells us about art and wellbeing, and how those ideas play out in reality. A recent study by Art Fund and the Psychiatry Research Trust showed that looking at original artworks can measurably reduce stress – not just emotionally, but physiologically. Real changes in the body. And yet, attend any arts event with wellbeing in the title and the language can feel oddly hollow. How, exactly, is art supposed to help me? Do I need to make it, look at it, talk about it? And who, ultimately, is prescribing the remedy for my particular problem?