WORKING towards reducing stigma around mental health, locally run Wellways - a support service that provides a convenient, safe access point for support - recently held an art exhibition in The Hub.

Funding was made available from the Victorian Government and Australia Post for Wellways and its art group’s members to purchase art supplies to create works and run the exhibition, and at the same time raise community awareness in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month in October.

Wellways peer support worker, Bronwyn Margetts, runs an art group session every Wednesday at the Maryknoll Centre on Lonsdale Street in Hamilton, and said creating art was a critical tool in reducing invasive thoughts and helping combat mental health issues.

“Art is one simple way we can improve our mental health,” she said.

“The purpose of the art group for members is to provide psychosocial support and increase community engagement - which breaks down isolation.

“We want people to know that support is available.”

Ms Margetts said the exhibition in The Hub helped raise awareness, gave people in the community an opportunity to have a conversation around mental health and was a celebration of the participants’ works.

She said one collaborative piece of artwork on display focussed particularly on six primary emotions - happy, sad, disgust, surprise, fear and anger.

“We feel good when we do art because we’re engaging parts of the brain that are creative, problem solving and stimulating,” Ms Margetts said.

“Creating art is around switching over thinking in the brain and getting the person to focus on something positive - creativity and doing art is therapeutic to being able to stop negative thoughts manifesting.

“When we are overthinking and ruminating and procrastinating, we are putting energy into negativity which makes us feel depressed and anxious.”

“Through the exhibition and with weekly art sessions, the members learnt that an emotion can last for about an hour.

“But if we keep feeding the emotion it becomes a mood - a mood can hang around for half a day or a day - if we keep feeding the negativity and the mood - that’s when it becomes a mental health disorder.

“We learnt that we have control of our moods, not our emotions, because they are triggered by external things. If we keep feeding those negative emotions, we will feel angry, sad, depressed and anxious - all negative emotions.”