Article written by Candy Spiegel

Did you know art can help you cope with stress, anxiety and depression? Multiple scientific studies have shown the link. They believe creativity causes our brains to release dopamine, a chemical that makes us happy.

Of course, our art of choice is scrapbooking and the Mosaic Moments® Design Team has put together some specific coping ideas to help bring out the happy in you!

Vox recently published some tips from Joel Minden, a psychologist and author of “Show Your Anxiety Who’s Boss.” “When we normalize anxiety, there’s some comfort that comes with knowing that others feel that way, too,” he said. “It’s okay to have those authentic but difficult feelings.”

Minden recommends writing down these worries as a way to help process them. Why not take it a step further and ask each member of your family to write out the things they are anxious about right now. Scrapbook their answers, along with a photo of each person.

U.S. News & World Report recommends thinking of something you are grateful for “before your feet hit the floor in the morning.” Thinking good thoughts gets your day off to a positive start. The article goes on to quote from a study that found writing a gratitude letter can change the brain activity in a positive way, as well as improving a person’s emotional well-being.

Andrea created this beautiful two-page layout showing many of the things she is grateful for. It would be beautiful framed and hung on the wall to keep the wonderful things in her life front and center.

Our bodies function better when they are healthy.

Taking the dog, or the kids, for a walk is a simple way to stay active. You might also try new foods or a search out a healthy recipe for dinner.

Take pictures of your family taking a walk with the dog, like Paije did here, preparing a special meal together, or setting up an obstacle course in the backyard and scrapbook the pictures. 

Humans need human contact.

Take the time to scrapbook some of the wonderful experiences you have shared with your friends, or your kids and their friends, like Tami did on this layout. This is a perfect layout to use up all of those selfies you may have.

You might also create a page showing all of the modern ways we stay together, even when we are apart. Take pictures of the kids Facetiming Grandma, or capture a shot of you attending a virtual crop, class or webinar. There are lots of ways we stay social through technology and it's fun to document some of these.

When something bad happens, like a divorce, car accident, fire or hurricane, record how it affected you and your family. Experts say acknowledging your feelings, allowing yourself to get angry or to cry, and then letting them go can be therapeutic.

Here, Candy recorded some of the impacts the pandemic had on her family. She included some of the good things to come out of the time, including more time with her family and the caring of complete strangers.

Sometimes it helps to focus on the fun things in life. So, pull out those baby photos, pictures from a recent vacation or a trip to the theme park. Relive those wonderful moments and "escape" from the real world while scrapbooking them.

On this example, Jodi recorded all of the wonderful things that happened to her family last year. Imagine all of the feel-good memories she experienced while creating this layout.

As a bonus, you will also earn a huge sense of accomplishment when the pictures, papers and dies you purchased to do this with are finally out of your storage containers and in your albums!