Art and Overwhelm
Dysregulated, abstract portrait by Jeff Baker
ID: An abstract painted portrait of a female presenting person in muted earth tones. she is standing in a composed manner but her body looks jittery and dysregulated.
Autistic overwhelm and dysregulation can hit you like a ton of bricks. It just shuts down all ability to think and cope with anything. I’ve often described it like being hit in the face repeatedly with a foam bat, it’s not going to send you to the hospital, but it’s not leaving room for much else to happen, and it’s quickly rage inducing! From what I understand this is not a unique experience in my community. For many autistics, the world can be very overwhelming. Everyday experiences such as loud noises, bright lights, and social interactions can be draining AF and difficult to navigate. As a result, autistics develop coping mechanisms to manage our traits, such as stimming, sensory diets, and social scripts. However, another valuable tool that can help manage autistic traits is art. You can ask my spouse, when I’m overwhelmed and done with life, all I need is a weighted blanket and my art tablet.
Art has been shown to have therapeutic benefits for individuals with a range of mental health conditions and a range of neurologies, including autism. In fact, art therapy has been used for decades as a form of treatment for autistics. It provides a creative outlet for expression, allows for sensory exploration, and can help develop social skills. How you ask? Let’s dive in! BUCKLE UP, BUTTERCUP!
1. Sensory Exploration
For many autistics, sensory processing can be challenging. The world can be too bright, too loud, or too overwhelming. Art provides a safe and controlled environment for sensory exploration. Art materials such as paint, clay, and textiles can be tactile and soothing to touch. Creating art can also be a calming and meditative process, providing a sense of control and predictability. Through art, autistic individuals can learn to explore and regulate their sensory experiences.
2. Emotional Expression
Another benefit of art is the ability to express emotions. Many autistics have difficulty articulating their emotions, add the general disconnect from body signals to the brain and it can be difficult to understand the breadth of what the emotion means even in your own mind! Art provides a visual and creative outlet for emotions, allowing autistic people to communicate their experiences in a nonverbal way. This can be particularly helpful for those who struggle with emotional regulation or have difficulty recognizing and labeling emotions. For myself, I often will paint what the feeling is before I know how to name it in the first place. Once I have some brush strokes on the canvas I’m able to take some perspective and say “I’m feeling anxious and dysregulated…” or “I’m feeling great about myself right now.” Before I paint what I’m feeling I’m not always able to articulate or identify the emotion, I just feel unsettled. Art is also a great way to process emotions in a healthy way. I have worked with kids who are grieving, and even just drawing the person or object they are grieving for helps them process their emotions and start to heal.
3. Social Skills Development
Art can also be a valuable tool for developing social skills. Creating art in a group setting can help build social connections and provide opportunities for collaboration and communication. ESPECIALLY COMICS! I can’t tell you how many friends I made as a kid, collaborating on projects or even just reading the comics my friends made on their own and vice versa. Additionally, art can help develop perspective-taking and empathy, as autistics create and view art from different points of view, particularly in narrative driven art forms where you have to imagine what your characters are thinking and feeling.
4. Coping Mechanisms
Finally, art can serve as a coping mechanism for managing autistic traits. Creating art can be a form of self-regulation, providing a sense of control and mastery. For autistics who experience anxiety or stress, art can serve as a grounding activity to help calm the nervous system. Additionally, creating art can be a way to practice and reinforce skills such as attention to detail, patience, and persistence (or, on the flip side, to break us of those things when we are hyperfixating on something else in an unhealthy way).
As you can see, art can be a valuable tool for managing autistic traits. It provides a safe and controlled environment for sensory exploration, allows for emotional expression, promotes social skills development, and serves as a coping mechanism for managing stress and anxiety. If you are autistic or support someone who is, consider incorporating art into your daily routine! You may be surprised at the benefits it can provide.