SXSW London: Healing Arts in the Age of Anxiety

“Healing Arts in the Age of Anxiety” was a timely discussion on the potential of the arts to support evidence-based interventions that promote, protect, and restore mental health. The conversation highlighted the growing body of evidence showing that arts engagement improves emotional regulation, lowers stress hormones like cortisol, enhances cognitive flexibility, and builds social connection. Despite these benefits, the arts had remained under-utilised in health systems worldwide.

In an age marked by heightened anxiety, attention fatigue, and deepening isolation, the arts were shown to offer accessible, community-based, and evidence-informed pathways to mental wellbeing. Yet global health strategies had often bypassed this powerful resource, creating a gap that medicine or technology alone could not fill.

The discussion also underscored the economic implications of this oversight: mental health conditions were projected to cost the global economy $6 trillion annually by 2030, with depression already being the leading cause of workplace absenteeism in many high-income countries. Participants argued that investing in the arts was not just a cultural imperative—it was a scalable, cost-effective health intervention and a productivity strategy.

A recording of the panel will be available soon.