Thursday 18 September 2008

Paintings kill pain



This article discusses a study about art and pain. It has concluded that looking at beautiful art did ease the physical pain of the people who took part in the study. It goes on to say this might help hospitals to justify expenditure on art for their wards which has to be a good thing.

Starry night picture courtesy of: http://www.postershop.com/Van-Gogh-Vincent/Van-Gogh-Vincent-Starry-Night-7900566.html
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8 comments:

  1. The Daily Connoisseur19 September 2008 at 16:33

    I completely believe in this. Beautiful paintings can move you and calm you down... this is exactly why I would rather have a gorgeous painting in my bedroom than a horrible television... (ongoing debate with my husband :)

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  2. Unknown19 September 2008 at 17:04

    Heck they could just start by changing the color; plenty of studies show that changing the interior color of hospitals has a great effect on patients. Still it would wonderful to bring it images of beauty.

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  3. ScentScelf20 September 2008 at 01:58

    There was an earlier study that showed that if a treatment or recovery room had an image of a "placid" scene (beach, river in the woods, etc.), patients uniformly reported a lower pain level for identical procedures.

    This, plus the recent article on a study that showed that study of art made for better doctors (am trying to find that one; sent it to our art teacher). This article is going to be a good conversation starter for my philosophy students, who are investigating "beauty" right now...thanks!

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  4. Aimée L'Ondée20 September 2008 at 16:19

    Staring at Van Gogh paintings always kills the pain for me! :^)

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  5. Rose21 September 2008 at 17:39

    Hi DC- yes a painting in the bedroom would look nicer. That said I have been known to enjoy some TV in bed on lazy Sundays!

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  6. Rose21 September 2008 at 17:43

    Hi Jenavira, it's really interesting that something as simple as a colour change helps patients. I am interested in colour psychology and always try to think about it for myself when I'm buying homeware.

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  7. Rose21 September 2008 at 17:48

    Hi Scentself, I'm really glad the article will be useful. It makes sense that placid scenes help to ease people's pain and it's really good news that so much work is being done into patients surroundings and how they can help the patient.

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  8. Rose21 September 2008 at 17:51

    Aimee L'Ondee- yes I love his paintings too. Especially this one, it makes me want to put L'heure Bleu on.

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