A new approach to tackling depression in adolescence focuses on the fun within the healing process.
Michaelle DiMaggio-Potter works in the RAD Lab at the University of Minnesota and is a coordinator for the Creativity Camp Research Project. She says unlike traditional treatments for depression the camp focuses on the importance that creating art has on path to healing.
“The people who come in are art professors or community artists who teach the adolescence,” DiMaggio-Potter says. “A lot of it is them finding the creativity and inspiration in themselves.”
DiMaggio-Potter says the study focuses on teens aged 12-17 due to their specific level of development.
“It's also commonly the time that mental health issues or struggles kind of emerge.”
This summer the study will be will be holding three more cohorts of the Camp, gathering more data on alternative ways to treat teen depression.