Healing power of art therapy on display at mental health center's new gallery
In the corridor of the Rehabilitation Daycare Center at Shanghai Mental Health Center (SMHC), a special art facility called "No. 600 Gallery" opens its doors to the public with its first exhibition "Art Brut: Lines, Colors, Stories."
"This is the first art gallery established in a mental health clinic on the Chinese mainland," said Chen Zhimin, resident doctor in SMHC's Clinical Psychology Department, who is also the exhibition's curator.
According to Chen, the aim behind the gallery is to raise public awareness and eliminate misunderstanding about mental health, as well as open a new gate for the public to get closer to the inner world of the center's patients.
"I call them patient artists because I really feel their artwork has artistic values," Chen said. "They express their interpretation of the world around us through paintings. When you look at their artwork, you feel subtle emotions, you feel shock and you sense imagination."
All 60 paintings on show were created by inpatients who have been living with mental illness during their daily art therapy sessions, according to Zhong Na, deputy director of SMHC's Rehabilitation Department.
The rehabilitation center is dedicated to building an innovative mental rehabilitation and recovery management mode. Because it's a non-invasive form of intervention and doesn't require special, expensive medical equipment, art therapy is a great method to help patients enhance their self-expression and improve their emotional health and interpersonal connections.
According to relevant studies, after one year of drawing therapy, patients with schizophrenia can significantly increase their self-awareness, confidence and dignity, helping them regain social functions. It also helps patients with autism, anxiety, depression, Alzheimer's, bulimia nervosa and substance abuse issues.
"Generally, the goal of art therapy for patients with mental disorders is more focused on the process. But I think if we can help them establish self-confidence and social recognition through an exhibition, it will have a more profound mental impact on them," Chen said.
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本期节目，我们有幸邀请到上海精神卫生中心普通精神科住院医师陈智民，同时也是600号画廊的策展人，以及康复科副主任钟娜医生，在画廊现场，通过这次名为“原生艺术，线条，色彩和故事," 的展览，给大家分享精神健康和艺术疗愈的故事。
作为策展人的陈医生,把作品的创作者称为是病人艺术家, 他更希望通过艺术的形式,来提升公众对精神病及其患者的认知。 “600号就是我们院所在的宛平南路600号。上海人都知道这个数字的涵义，常常被当做玩笑的一部分，但随着公众对于精神障碍的逐渐认识和包容，“600号”也慢慢变成了一个无伤大雅的梗，甚至听起来还有点亲切。这个名称也算是对一段公众观念改变史的见证,”陈医生说。
钟医生告诉我们，很多患有精神疾病的患者，在用药物进行精神病阳性症状如幻听，幻视的治疗之后，其阴性功能并不能得到治愈，这些功能包括言语贫乏、注意缺陷、情感迟钝、情感淡漠和社会性退缩等；所以上海精神卫生中心的日间康复中心就会运用多种康复疗法，来在这方面帮助他们成功的回归社会。艺术疗愈项目就是其中重要的项目之一。
“这个600号画廊的最主要目的,一方面是减少社会对这些人的一些误解和歧视, 然后另外一个理念就是希望把康复的理念也传播出去. 告诉公众, 其实精神病患除了症状以外, 功能的障碍康复也是很重要的。”
团体艺术（绘画）治疗是一种非侵入性干预、易掌握、不需要特殊医疗设备设施、疗效明确、便于推广等特点，国外在应用团体艺术（绘画）治疗精神疾病的研究较多，目前团体艺术（绘画）治疗的导入主题也呈现多样化，比如“房-树-人”、“曼陀罗”、“九宫格”、“生命线”等。
有研究显示对精神分裂症门诊患者进行为期一年的绘画治疗后发现可促进患者感知自我，增强自信、自尊，对于社会功能的恢复有着较好的促进作用。中国学者在使用中国传统材料的团体艺术（绘画）疗法也可以提高精神分裂症患者自我效能和社会功能，减少社会和生活功能的问题。艺术治疗在治疗成人焦虑症、抑郁症、阿尔茨海默症、神经性贪食症、物质滥用等精神疾病具有改善作用。
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