Art therapy can be a remedy for mental ailments. This is the conviction of the French-speaking Doctors of Canada (MFDC) who will be able to prescribe cultural prescriptions from November 1. Patients suffering from psychic or mental disorders will thus have free access to the exhibitions of the Musée des Beaux-arts de Montréal (MMFA) in Quebec.
As part of this experiment, which is unique in the world, the participating physicians, around a hundred registered in the project, will be able to issue up to 50 prescriptions during their consultations for a visit to the MMFA’s collections and exhibitions. This ordinance will act as a key to discovering the works of art and will be valid for a maximum of two adults and two minors.
This pilot project is based for the authors on the belief that art therapy positively influences the mental health of patients. “More and more studies are showing it: contact with works of art has a real impact on the state of physical and mental health of the population”, corroborates Dr Hélène Boyer, vice-president of MFDC, in a press release picked up by Radio Canada.
Art, a complementary therapy
Art therapy can be viewed as a complement to conventional treatments according to its advocates. Last April, researchers at the University of Rochester demonstrated the benefits of art therapy, and in particular the teaching of artistic techniques, on reduction of pain and anxiety in patients with leukemia.
Within the MFDC association, we are convinced that exposure to a work of art exerts an ipositive influence on neuro-hormones involved in depression, stressor anxiety. The virtuous mechanism would be similar to that of physical activity on health. At the MMFA, we advance a strong argument: doctors can now prescribe prescription sports, so why not a visit to the museum?
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