How to Maintain Mental Wellness for Creative Well-Being

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Mental wellness has slowly become a focus in the creative industry. News like animators leaving in the middle of animation projects to prioritise themselves, or rejecting a project when expectations and schedules would jeopardise their team's health, is getting more common.

However, this begs the question of, “Are creatives more prone to mental conditions?” Or is it that hard to find a balance between work and life in creative work? Either way, prioritising your mental wellness is important, especially in this industry.

This article explains why creatives are more susceptible to mental health challenges and what they are. Along with the key pillars of mental wellness and how to cultivate them with additional resources for further support beyond apps and self-help books.

Table of Contents

Why Are Creatives More Susceptible to Specific Mental Health Challenges?

7 Common Mental Health Challenges in Creatives Go Through

4 Pillars of Mental Wellness for the Creatives

Professional Support & Resources for Creative Mental Health

Key Takeaways

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Author Bio

Why Are Creatives More Susceptible to Specific Mental Health Challenges?

Creatives are more susceptible because of the type of work they do. They are subject to the unpredictability of their schedule, accidental self-isolation, and financial security, to name a few. Several studies have looked into the correlation between mental challenges and creativity, citing different astounding artists with mental health issues, such as Vincent Van Gogh and Sylvia Plath.

Some even call it creative depression because of the link between their creative work and the factors of their workspace.

7 Common Mental Health Challenges in the Creative Industry

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This list will consist of common challenges that creatives go through, excluding severe conditions (and if you are experiencing severe conditions, please seek out the nearest professional help).

1. Creative Blocks

Do not underestimate the severity of creative blocks, which is a temporary period of being unable to draw out ideas or inspirations. This often stems from self-doubt and perfectionism, affecting creative wellbeing.

2. Creative Burnout

Creative burnout is a state of exhaustion and disconnection from creative work, being unable to perform any creative task without feeling exhausted or dread. Creatives would be struggling with a lack of motivation and feeling overwhelmed by constant pressure, deadlines and poor work-life balance.

3. Perfectionism

A double-edged sword for creatives, as an excessive need for perfectionism will lead to mental stress. This trait strives for flawlessness, sets excessively high standards, and is overly critical of oneself and others.

4. Procrastination

Typically blamed for being lazy, but are suffering from the fear of failure. Or, are so overwhelmed that they are paralysed from their work. The main difference between laziness and procrastination is that laziness is a lack of intention to act, while procrastination is having the intention to act but being unable to.

5. Comparison Culture

Many creatives struggle with self-esteem issues, particularly when their journey isn't a steady path of growth. This can lead them to compare themselves to others, often seeking external validation. With the existence of social media, the culture of comparing worsened.

6. Anxiety

There are several factors in how anxiety can seep into the minds of creatives. These factors can be from financial insecurity, fear of failure, or impostor syndrome. Some can turn it into a source of inspiration, but many creatives who suffer from it are hindered in their creative performance.

7. Financial Stress

As much as we would like to believe that money should not be an excuse for not being able to creatively perform, financial security gives mental peace to a lot of people. Without that stability, it puts a lot of mental strain on creatives, especially in an industry where creatives are not rewarded as they deserve.

4 Pillars of Mental Wellness for the Creatives

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Physical Care

If you’re wondering why this is at the top and not specifically your mental health, your physical health is the foundation of your overall well-being. A study even shows that individuals who lack physical activity have higher morbidity rates.

Here’s how to maintain your physical care:

• Check in on your physical health before caring for your mental health.

• Make exercise part of your routine.

• Reduce your caffeine intake and sugary snacks (even if it is hard).

• Eat a well-balanced meal (Not a diet).

• Get enough sleep every day.

Mental and Emotional Care

Understanding where your mental and emotional concerns stem from is a crucial step in mental wellness. The self-awareness of understanding these will lead you to manage them better, indirectly managing your stress too.

To nurture your mental and emotional care, here is what you can start doing:

• Start with self-compassion.

• Accept imperfections to build your self-esteem and reduce self-criticism.

• Challenge negative thoughts and reframe unhelpful thinking patterns.

Cognitive Stimulation

Although this seems counterintuitive, as it might seem to add mental loads, learning new things helps keep your mind sharp and could help develop new ideas and inspiration. This will also help develop your cognitive flexibility to adapt to new situations and perspectives, leading to new ways for creatives to problem-solve.

Other than that, here are other ways to cultivate your cognitive abilities to help you stay focused:

• Practice mindfulness and stay present in the moment (to declutter your mind).

• Engage in games and puzzles like crosswords, sudoku, chess and brain-stimulating apps that challenge problem-solving and logic.

• Read and write what you’re comfortable with, like self-help articles or creative exercises that encourage you with prompts and examples.

Meaningful Connections

Positive relationships can help give you a sense of belonging, reduce accidental self-isolation in creative work, and provide a support system when you need a listening ear.

Even in your workspace, seeking and engaging with your team members to ask for constructive feedback will help battle your need for external validation. This could also help you gain new ideas through collaboration with your team.

To cultivate meaningful connections, you should:

• Connect with loved ones like your family and friends.

• Participate in groups or communities to build a sense of belonging.

• Embrace vulnerability and self-authenticity.

Practical Daily Habits to Support Your Wellness

Supporting your mental wellness starts with small, consistent habits. By incorporating these into your routine, you will maintain a positive tone to protect your wellness.

Habit #1: Eat Nutritious Meals and Stay Hydrated

Add fruit and vegetables to your daily meals or as a substitute for your snacks. Changing your meal routine can be challenging at first, but by replacing one ingredient at a time, it will soon become muscle memory for you.

Additionally, carry a bottle of water with you wherever you go. It can be tempting to buy a sweet drink or a hot cup of coffee to keep you going through the day. However, substituting your caffeine intake with water will help your health in the long run.

Habit #2: Limit Screen Time and Shift to Meaningful Activities

Protecting your energy sometimes involves cutting back on social media consumption. While the platform does a lot to form connections, it has become the source of doomscrolling. It is tempting to scroll through social media and find sparks of dopamine that make you feel happy, albeit temporarily.

However, it harms your creative wellbeing and energy if you’re not careful about what you scroll through, as not all social media is filtered from tragedy or heartbreaking news.

So, set a timer for your apps and shift your focus to hobbies that would boost your mental energy instead. Substituting your social media time with hobbies like reading, painting, or even just engaging in your imagination.

Habit #3: Move Daily and Prioritise Sleep

It may seem daunting to reach the required 10,000 steps that many encourage you to do. However, it doesn’t have to be steps. If you find dancing more enjoyable than long-distance walking, incorporate it into your daily habits by spending at least 10 minutes every day just to dance. Hence, it’s less about trying to achieve a set number of steps; it's more about making sure you keep your body moving.

No matter how you move, it won’t function well without an adequate amount of sleep. Aim to get at least 7 hours of sleep. Keep a consistent sleep schedule so you’ll have a steady circadian rhythm.

Professional Support for Creative Mental Health

If you need extra resources to assist you in improving your mental health, here are some supports you can look into:

Self-Help Books

Here are self-help book recommendations from different creative communities:

• The Art Spirit by Robert Henri

• The War of Art by Steven Pressfield

• Art & Fear by Bayles and Orland

• Atomic Habits by James Clear

• Living The Creative Life by Rice Freeman-Zachery

• The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp

• Keep Going by Austin Kleon

Self-Care Apps

Here are self-care apps that can help you stay accountable in your journey for mental wellness:

• Meditation

• Daylio

• Calm

• Headspace

• Habitica

• Sanvello

  
  

Professional Contacts for Mental Health in Malaysia

When you’ve made the effort to support your mental well-being but still feel persistent negative emotions that impact your daily life, it’s time to seek professional help.

With the growing awareness of mental health, Malaysia has a handful of official resources for individuals who need professional help. Here are the organisations that can help:

• Malaysian Mental Health Association (MMHA)

• Befrienders

• SOLS Health

• The Mind Hub

• Lifeline Malaysia

• National Coalition for Mental Wellbeing (NCMW)

• Mental Illness Awareness and Support Association (MIASA)

• Talian Kasih

Key Takeaways

• The irony of art healing us but creating it causing mental stress isn’t lost on us. But that’s proof of how much heart and soul creatives sacrifice to create what fuels us.

• That’s why mental wellness for our creative creators is so important, so they can continue to create without sacrificing their well-being to heal us through their creative ideas and products.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is doomscrolling an effect of mental health challenges?

Unfortunately, yes. Doomscrolling could be a sign that you are mentally burnt out. If you find yourself excessively scrolling through social media, take a pause and ground yourself to stay in the present. Find out why you were doomscrolling in the first place and work from there. All the best!

How would mood tracking help with my mental wellness?

Mood tracking helps build the self-awareness of your mental and emotional state so you can better manage them.

Is there a way to deal with creative blocks?

Yes, one of the ways to deal with art blocks would be doing a creative mind map, as it helps with visually organising your ideas and finding connections between solutions and problems. Have a try at it!

Author Bio

With a background in Arts English, Adilla has been a casual writer for various hobbies like parodies of animated shows and plots for board games. She loves to read anything and everything from fantasy stories to articles on tips and tricks. Now an advocate for mental health and effective project management for the creative industry. Currently, Adilla resides in Malaysia and is a creative writer at TESSR. To know more about her, check out her LinkedIn.