Kannan 1

Reflection

Throughout high school I have always known that I wanted to do a question related to art

because it has had such a positive impact on my life. I have found that it is something I do when

I am bored or stressed or just need a distraction so I was thinking of a question that explains why

I tend to do this. I ended up coming up with the question, “How does art help reduce stress and

anxiety in adolescents?”. After coming up with this question, I began my research and set out to

find out statistics about adolescents' mental health, research behind art therapy, and case studies

in which there were success stories about art reducing stress levels.

While doing research, I ended up discovering that the majority of teens struggle with

either depression, anxiety, or stress. They tend to have increased levels of cortisol which is a

hormone that controls the amount of stress in the body. After this, I tried to find information that

shows what art can do to cortisol levels and how it can help people’s mental health in general. I

found out that art does in fact reduce cortisol levels and the people involved in case studies often

reported feeling calmer after completing art related activities than they did when they started.

Overall, the research I found had a general consensus that art has only a positive impact on the

body and because it is often used in therapy, it is a practice many should pursue in their own

time.

With this project, I was able to accomplish my paper and come up with a solid project

idea. I had planned to host a coloring workshop that had my own personalized coloring sheets.

Due to the virus, I was unable to actually host this event but I was actually looking forward to it.

I think that writing my paper itself was an accomplishment because I really struggled with

finding research that supported my theory. I found that a lot of people had self reported less
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levels of stress but it was hard to find reliable sources relaying the same information. Although it

was frustrating, I am glad I was able to accomplish my paper while working with limited

information. I also feel accomplished for reaching out to people for interviews and to find a

mentor because talking to people I don’t know can be very difficult for me. I reached out to over

five different people for my paper, project, and volunteering and even though I did not get to

some of it, I am proud of myself for making the plans.

I have always thought art to be a helpful tool and writing this paper helped me prove that.

I think that in the future I will continue to use it to my advantage. I think before completing my

senior project, I would worry about doing it so often because it might take away from my school

work or learning but now I know that it could actually improve it. It will help put me in the right

state of mind to complete my assignments and not be overwhelmed by everything else going on

in my life. I am thankful to have such a beautiful practice embedded into my daily routine.