MEET ZAINAB – A CREATIVE:TANDEM PARTICIPANT
Mental ill health in young people can take many forms including eating disorders, OCD, psychosis and severe emotional distress. Conversations around mental health often focus on anxiety and depression, overlooking the complexity of many young people’s experiences.
According to NHS England, around one in five children and young people aged 8-25 are now estimated to have a probable mental health disorder. For those admitted to inpatient mental health services, being away from home and friends can have a huge impact on confidence and wellbeing.
Create’s creative:tandem programme works with children and young people admitted to mental health units due to serious conditions, providing them with opportunities for self-expression, creativity and connection through the arts.
Losing your sense of self
Zainab* (14) took part in visual art workshops at the SLAM Bethlem Adolescent Unit, an inpatient service supporting young people with a range of mental health challenges including eating disorders, OCD and psychosis.
She described how mental illness affected her confidence and ability to engage with the things she once enjoyed:
“I’ve been in SLAM Bethlem Adolescent Unit for three to four months. My mental illness has stopped me from speaking up or participating in things I enjoy. You get cut off from your hobbies when you’re unwell.”
For many young people experiencing severe mental ill health, this loss of identity and routine can be deeply isolating.
Finding freedom through creativity
During the project, participants explored collage, painting and clay work with Create artist Renata Minoldo.
“On this project we’ve been making collages with different materials, painting and building with clay. The collages were my favourite. I used pieces of text, flowers and butterflies on top of different wallpaper designs, and that looked really pretty. It felt nice to put the piece on my wall.”
For Zainab, creativity became a way to feel calmer and more open:
“Creativity is good for your mental health. makes you feel more free and relaxed. And it broadens your mind.”
Getting to know that artistic side of yourself can be very freeing.
Zainab, creative:tandem
Research increasingly supports the link between creativity and wellbeing. The World Health Organization’s Collaborating Centre for Arts & Health, directed by Daisy Fancourt, has highlighted evidence that arts engagement can support mental health, reduce stress and anxiety, improve social connection and even help reduce pressure on health services.
The importance of making together
As well as supporting self-expression, group creative activities can help reduce feelings of isolation by encouraging conversation, collaboration and shared experiences:
“We’ve been talking to each other, sharing our ideas, our artwork and finding inspiration.”
For young people in inpatient settings, opportunities for meaningful social interaction can be limited. Zainab explained why projects like creative:tandem are so valuable:
“This project is really good for patients, because there’s not much stuff going on in the ward. Group activities like these can be helpful and they boost your mental wellbeing. ”
You can focus on an art project and really lose yourself in it. And I think that being able to lose yourself is a wonderful thing.
Zainab, creative:tandem
Why this work matters
Mental wellbeing is about far more than the absence of illness. It is about connection, confidence, identity and feeling able to participate in life.
Through projects like creative:tandem, young people experiencing significant mental ill health are given space to express themselves creatively, connect with others and rediscover parts of themselves beyond their illness.
*Name changed to protect anonymity
Thank you to London Freemasons’ Charity and Prudence Trust for funding this project.
