Museums as a Tool for Therapy?
A pandemic-safe visit that is good for your mental health
When I think of museums, I think of art, history, culture, tourists, and learning. But what if they could also become hubs for mental health prevention and treatment?
Our mental health has been affected since the beginning of the pandemic. Studies show that 4 in 10 adults in the US reported symptoms of anxiety and depression in 2020, compared to 1 in 10 in the first half of 2019.
On the other hand, museums, as most of the cultural industry, have faced closures and a significant loss of revenue. In most countries, the health crisis has left culture out of the list of priorities.
In France, for instance, museums briefly reopened last summer, only to close again in November. The subject has become highly polemical, as shopping centers have been open (and crowded) since early December.
In addition to that, a recent German study noted that a visit to a museum (while wearing a mask) has the lowest Covid-contagion risks. Lower than taking public transport or going to the supermarket with a mask on, for example.
Lately, multiple open letters to the French government and online petitions have been published, citing mental health as one of the arguments for the reopening of these cultural institutions.
How can museums help our mental health during and after the pandemic?
Reducing the feeling of isolation
Covid-19 has totally transformed our ways of socializing. Lockdowns have been frequent all over the globe and social distancing has become a priority. The situation has been particularly challenging for people whose quality of life was already low (unemployed, homeless, people living alone, in small housing, lacking ventilation or heating…).
One of the main problems we currently face as individuals is isolation.
Loneliness and isolation are not only harsh on mental health. They are known to increase the risk of developing conditions such as cholesterol and blood pressure problems.
Museums are often vast and offer a low-risk environment during the pandemic. In addition to that, multiple studies agree that a cultural visit can help fight feelings of isolation, therefore showing that museums could have their own place in public health policies.
In fact, these cultural institutions provide an opportunity to learn about our society’s past, thus reinforcing the sense of community. Visitors can also engage in conversation with museum employees or other visitors if they wish to do so.
In addition to that, some museums have community programs or volunteer opportunities, which would allow isolated people to get involved in a more permanent way.
Coping with anxiety
A 2018 study by the UK charity Art Fund, Calm and Collected, reports that 40% of the participants said they were anxious “at least some of the time”, while 63% of the participants said they “have at some point visited a museum or gallery to deal with stress and anxiety.” Said activities had a long-lasting effect on the emotional wellbeing of visitors.
While reading this study, I realized that I have subconsciously visited museums in order to cope with anxiety.
I live in Paris, where most museums are free for young adults under 26. After a particularly stressful/anxiety-triggering day, I would often go to the sculptures’ gallery in the Louvre since it is vast and far less crowded than other parts of the museum.
During these particular times, we often find ourselves in situations, thoughts or environments that trigger our anxiety. Museums could potentially be helpful, by offering a space in which the pandemic and our current living/employment situation would be secondary, even if just for a brief moment.
Museums can provide a safe environment allowing visitors to wind down. Some people have reported that, while a visit to a museum may be difficult at first, the result of the visit was positive and had a long-lasting effect.
I found myself immersed in the artwork, so much so that I was no longer thinking about my anxiety, or the things that had been stressful over the past few days. Even better, I didn’t experience any anxiety attacks for about two weeks after, simply because thinking about the artwork calmed me so much. — Evelyn Gutierrez on Art with Impact.
Museums and mental health programs
Of course, a simple visit to a museum is not a solution to mental health issues but it can be part of a treatment or preventive program. For instance, projects including museum visits as part of mental health treatments have been proven successful in the past.
Here are three examples of such programs:
1- Museums on Prescription by University College London (2014–2017).
Professor Helen Chatterjee led a project involving over a hundred isolated senior citizens referred to by social, psychological, and community services. The participants would visit museums in London and Kent and take part in multiple activities or workshops.
The research concluded that museums, art, and heritage allowed the participants to connect with others, reducing isolation and loneliness.
Being deemed successful, this project inspired others in Taiwan, Singapore, Australia, Spain, and Canada. In Montreal, for example, physicians reported highly positive results.
The participants were 231 disadvantaged and vulnerable adults, often isolated. By offering them training followed by volunteer positions in multiple heritage sites, If allowed its participants to connect with other individuals (fellow volunteers, museum visitors…) and change their perception of themselves by socializing, developing new abilities, and gaining confidence.
As a result, 75% of the participants reported increased wellbeing and 60% of the participants sustained said wellbeing improvement in the following 2 or 3 years.
3- Art therapy at the Art and History Museum of Dreux, France.
This museum holds regular workshops for patients of the psychiatric ward of the local hospital. The activities take place during the museum’s closed hours and often involve a guided visit and a creative workshop and allow the patients to express themselves, interact with others and share positive experiences outside the hospital.
This workshop has been highly successful and the partnership between the city of Dreux and its hospital has been renewed for multiple years. In fact, the patients report feeling very relaxed and forgetting their hospital lives.
Museums have the potential to become great hubs for mental health prevention or treatment, especially during and following the pandemic.
Regardless of mental health programs (and their funding), multiple local and national museums offer free entry in the US or the UK and can thus offer mental health benefits for individual citizens of all ages and budgets.
So… why not give it a try?
Personally, I miss being able to have a place to go indoors in order to take care of my mental health and recharge my batteries.
Since their closure, I had to replace museum visits by taking long walks outside, which is not always possible during the winter. I also miss the silence and the atmosphere of museum halls, where I can just be at peace with myself.
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