Creative arts are powerful in stress reduction and an innovative way to prevent stress and improve stress management. A study contributed to the evidence that making art significantly lowers stress-related hormone cortisol. Study participants experienced art-making as relaxing, enjoyable, helpful for learning about new aspects of self, freeing from constraints, an evolving process of initial struggle to later resolution, and about flow.
This includes art, music, dance/movement, and drama therapy. 81.1% of the studies reviewed in this most extensive paper reported a significant reduction of stress in the participants due to interventions of one of these arts modalities. Indeed, as Picasso said: "Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."