Wanna talk "crazy"?

For the last 5 years, I've been researching, writing, and producing plays about mental-health related issues. As May comes to a close, it would be remiss of me not to write something about the role the arts play in our mental health care.

Let's begin with the state of our mental health in the U.S. today:

• Suicide is critically high among young people (the second leading cause of death for youth ages 10 to 24 in the U.S., according to NAMI)

• 1 in 6 adults in the U.S. is taking anti-depressant medications (BMJ, 2026)

• Approximately 14% take anti-anxiety medication (CDC, 2024), 

• 1 in 5 people suffer from mental illness (NIH). 

Further, reports of loneliness and social isolation are considered to be at “epidemic’” proportions – 1 in 2 Americans (U.S. Surgeon General, 2023).  

Dems da facts.

Ashley Fredricksen as Zelda Fitzgerald in "Retail Therapy: 700 years of mental health care."

As a theatre maker and producer, I have seen first hand how live performances uplift people and create community, but then, so have you:

Remember the euphoria you felt when singing along to your favorite song at a concert with thousands of friends who were strangers just seconds before? ("Touching hands -- touching you!")

Remember wiping away tears at the end of play before the lights came up, or hearing the person sniffling next to you as you shared the experience of having your heart touched by the actors' storytelling?

Remember the way you tapped your toe or nodded your head as the band played on stage, unable to resist the music's call?

Lyndsay Graham, Erin Hendricksen, Greg Jones, Tony Paradis; Sarah Sletten & Ashley Rystad in silhouette: "The Nut Lab"

Remember how that comedy made you erupt in belly laughs?

Remember the times you were moved to emotion, thought, or sheer curiosity by a piece of art in a gallery or museum?

Remember how you streamed a movie at the end of a hard week because it was just the medicine you needed?

And if you are fortunate to heed the call to create (I believe everyone is called but many are afraid to answer),

Remember how you felt when you were in the process of creating? The "flow"-- the "zone" -- the place where everything else fell away and it was just you and your creation?

The arts are mental health care. You know it. I know it. School board and government representatives know it. Yet, those that hold the purse strings seem to forget it when it comes time to cut budgets.

So, I ask you --

Why the hell are the arts the first to be cut when schools and communities fall on tough economic times?

Why do we tighten our belts by labeling the arts as "the fat" when they are packed with nutrition?

We need more funding for the arts not less. It's like telling a person who is already shivering to take off their sweater.

And, not for nothin', folks, but these times we live in are stressful. Is there any wonder that the stats above are as high as they are? Hello! We've got a political shit show going on in D.C.. (and in our own states). We've got artificial intelligence breathing down our necks and we have no idea how it will impact our jobs or even our brains. There's increasing inflation. The planet is gasping for air. Oh, and kids as young as four-years old are practicing lock-down drills in their pre-schools in case a bad man comes to shoot their teachers and classmates. And the worse things are, the deeper we stick our noses into our cellphones.

Hey, but let's cut music programs and funding to the arts.

Yeah. That's not crazy.

Writing prompt: In what ways has consuming or creating arts contributed to your positive mental health?