Like many students her age, Shanaya Kumar, 16, faces much insecurity related to her studies, body image, and social status. Where Shanaya differs is that she is an ethnic minority and has additional stress piled up due to financial pressures as her parents had to work three to four jobs to afford food and transportation.
Her solution to combat this stress is to use Poetry as an outlet to discuss her own mental health issues, as well as the plight of many ethnic families struggling to provide the best education for their children.
Professor Rainbow Ho Tin-hung from the University of Hong Kong said expressive arts therapy could help an individual develop new perspectives on issues they want to understand or resolve by using different art forms such as music, visual arts, dance movement, drama and expressive writing. But she said arts therapy did not serve to replace medicine or surgery, but instead worked hand in hand because rehabilitation was physical, mental, psychological and social.
She urged the government to consider putting more resources into expressive Art therapy, such as adding it to the structure of the Hospital Authority.
What do you think? Should Hong Kong invest more resources into Art therapy? Let us know in our comments below.
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