Feeling Stressed? Try Painting.

It's estimated that 77% of the U.S. population experiences one or more physical symptoms caused from stress. Common symptoms include insomnia, increased heart rate, elevated blood pressure, headache, stomach ache, teeth grinding and vertigo. While there are dozens of ways to reduce stress levels, you might be surprised to hear that creating artwork can also lower stress.

Researchers from Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania found that doing just 45 minutes of creative artwork lowered stress. I know what you're probably thinking: how can this help me if I don't have any skills with artwork? Well, researchers discovered the benefits in participants of all skill levels, including those with no prior experience creating artwork.

For the study, researchers from the university's department of nutrition sciences recruited 39 adults between the ages of 18 and 59. Researchers then recorded participants' cortisol levels, which is a hormone associated with stress and anxiety. Generally speaking, the higher your cortisol levels, the more stress you are experiencing. Next, researchers asked the participants to create artwork of their choosing for 45 minutes using a collection of markers, clay, paper and other essentials, giving no specific instructions.

After the 45-minute session was over, researchers re-tested the participants' cortisol levels. They discovered that 3 in 4 participants (75%) experienced lower levels of the stress hormone, the degree to which varied among the participants. Some participants experienced significant lowers of cortisol after creating artwork, while others experienced a minimal reduction. In total, though, 75% of the study's participants saw some degree of lower cortisol levels after creating artwork.

"It was surprising, and it also wasn’t,” said Girija Kaimal, assistant professor of creative arts therapies at Drexel University and the study's lead author. “It wasn’t surprising because that’s the core idea in art therapy: Everyone is creative and can be expressive in the visual arts when working in a supportive setting. That said, I did expect that perhaps the effects would be stronger for those with prior experience.”

Researchers were quick to point out, however, a link between the participants' age and their cortisol levels. Younger participants generally had lower cortisol levels after creating artwork. According to Kaimal, this link could be attributed to the fact that younger people are still developing and trying to find ways to deal with everyday stress.

This study was published in the journal Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association.