Using Creativity to Frame Your Recovery

Utilizing creative outlets to cope with trauma, mental illness, or life stressors can prove to be very beneficial. Creativity can help frame your recovery and lead to longer-lasting sobriety. How you go about creating that framework depends on you. Early on in recovery, you may begin to doubt yourself. Perhaps you begin to think that the very things that make you who you are, are in fact weaknesses. This notion is far from the truth. 

Your creative pursuits or passions are unique to you and will help you in your recovery for a multitude of reasons. For starters, they will offer a healthy outlet for you to cope with the symptoms of your illness. Secondly, it allows you to focus your time and energy on creating something beautiful.

Suffering From Mental Illness

Millions of people across the country are suffering from mental illness. How mental health begins to decline is endless, especially with the intense pressures in society today. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates that mental illnesses “are among the most common health conditions in the United States.” They claim that over 50 percent of individuals will be diagnosed with a mental disorder during their life. Mental disorders include schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression. With the prevalence of mental illness among the American population, it is important for facilities to factor in a diverse range of needs when offering treatment. That means creating individualized treatment plans and treating the whole person, not just the disorder.

To this day, mental health professionals cannot pinpoint just one single cause of mental illness. A mental disorder typically develops from a combination of biological and environmental factors. For example, the CDC indicates that “early adverse life experiences” contribute to the development of a mental disorder. Those experiences may include childhood abuse, domestic violence, or early exposure to drug and alcohol use. More often than not, traumas such as these affect the way you cope with stress later on in life. The inability to cope in a healthy manner leads to self-medication, intrusive negative thoughts, and exacerbated symptoms of mental illness.

The Road to Recovery

The road to recovery will be unique to you. You might be suffering from anxiety and depression, while others may be suffering from substance use disorder (SUD). Perhaps you suffer from co-occurring disorders — a struggle with addiction and another mental health condition. With these dual diagnoses, recovery must address both conditions. While the road to recovery may differ, you must receive individualized treatment for your mental disorders.

Individualized plans of care require medical professionals to get to know you and your recovery needs more in-depth. For example, at the Lakehouse Recovery Center, we prioritize understanding your beliefs, values, and goals, and creating a plan of care for you. A one-size-fits-all approach to addiction or mental health recovery is not effective for clients. This limited approach can put you at a greater risk for relapse. Part of getting to know you also means becoming more familiar with your hobbies and passions. With this information, the treatment plan can become more detailed, and those hobbies or passions can be used to help cope with the symptoms of mental disorders.

Creativity and Recovery 

When it comes to the connection between creativity in recovery and mental health treatment, it all comes down to one thing — wellness. The ability to express yourself through creative outlets will make you happier and improve your emotional well-being. Incorporating creative passions such as art and music into your everyday life will have a profound impact on your recovery. 

You may think of music and art when you think of creative outlets; however, there are many types of creative outlets that can be used to express yourself. By being able to express negative feelings surrounding addiction or mental health in a healthy way you reduce the risk of relapse and maintain sobriety long-term.

Many recovery treatment centers and mental health facilities have incorporated creative therapy into their treatment programs. While research has been able to show the benefits of creative therapy, mental health professionals are seeing it firsthand. They now understand the positive effects that creativity can have on your emotional well-being and how it relieves stress. They also know how it can improve your self-esteem, and how you can thrive by indulging in creative pursuits.

Create Creative Frameworks of Recovery

Relapse prevention at Lakehouse Recovery Center can help you incorporate creativity into your recovery journey. Knowing what tends to lead you to relapse and how creativity can prevent it, you can work with your case manager and counselors to effectively integrate your creative passions into your recovery plan. Our relapse prevention program offers the opportunity to do this and strengthen your recovery plan as a whole.

You or someone you love may be suffering from addiction and co-occurring mental disorders. At the Lakehouse we can help provide an integrated approach to recovery treatment and rehabilitation to help you attain long-term success. Start your path to recovery with us today. 

The development of addiction, substance use disorders, and co-occurring mental health disorders typically stem from the inability to cope with trauma or life stressors in a healthy way. We turn to self-medication and unhealthy coping techniques as a way to handle whatever negative feelings or situations we’re experiencing. More people are using creative outlets to cope with trauma or mental illness in a more positive way. Creativity offers clients the chance to express themselves and channel any negative energy into something positive. Going through the relapse prevention program at the Lakehouse will help you to incorporate your creative passions into your recovery plan. By learning more about you and your creative interests, Lakehouse can create an individualized treatment plan that integrates those creative passions into your recovery. To learn more about the healing power of creativity or start your path to recovery today, contact the Lakehouse at (877) 762-3707.