Self-Portraits: Literal Self-Portraits, Mandalas, and Free Drawings to Reduce Anxiety

This mixed methods study assessed the emotional impact of therapeutic art techniques in reducing subjective anxiety by comparing three options for drawing a self-portrait: literal self-portrait, mandala, and free drawing. Undergraduate college students (n = 60) were provided with a mood induction procedure and then randomly assigned to a drawing condition. State anxiety increased after mood was induced, and decreased after completing a drawing for all conditions. There were no statistical differences in state anxiety across drawing conditions at any time point. Qualitative analysis revealed both shared and unique themes among drawing conditions. This study concluded that the process of drawing a self-portrait, regardless of approach, generally reduced state anxiety.