“The Canvas of Mental Health” Art Competition Report

Art and mental health have a positive connection. The artistic medium can be used to reduce mental health stigma, promote awareness, express mental health issues, and promote mental calmness. Creating art and relating to it reduces cortisol levels, a marker for stress, and induces positive mental states both for the artist and the viewer.

With this background, “The Canvas of Mental Health” Art Competition was organized on March 13th, 2022, during the World Psychiatric Association Congress 2022, at the Nishat Hotel, Lahore. The competition was held among medical students, psychology students & trainees, postgraduate residents, speech therapy students, and students interested in psychology and psychiatry. Cash prizes worth PKR 25,000, 15,000, and 10,000 were announced for the top three winners.

Twenty-six participants presented their artwork based on different themes related to mental health, in front of the judges’ committee. Dr. Madah Fatima and Dr. Sania Mumtaz Tahir, postgraduate residents at the Academic Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Mayo Hospital Lahore were coordinators of the contest.

Professor Afzal Javed, Professor Muhammad Waqar Azeem, and Dr. Muhammad Zeeshan adjudicated the art competition. Professor Afzal Javed is currently working as a Consultant Psychiatrist & Honorary Associate Clinical Professor at Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, UK. He is also the President of World Psychiatric Association. Professor Muhammad Waqar Azeem is the Chair of Psychiatry/ Child Psychiatry at Sidra Medical and Research Center, Doha, Qatar. He also serves as the Professor of Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University, and the chair of Qatar’s National Autism Plan Working Group. Dr. Muhammad Zeeshan is currently working as the Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School (NJMS), Newark, New Jersey, USA. All entries were judged on Message conveying any aspect of Mental health, Originality and creativity, Relevance to the theme, and Use of Colours.

Miss Hareem Jamil, student of BS in Clinical Psychology, Center for Clinical Psychology, University of Punjab scored 1st position and a cash prize of PKR 25,000. Mr. Muhammad Arshad Raouf, student of the Advanced Diploma in Clinical Psychology (ADCP) program at the Center for Clinical Psychology, University of Punjab scored 2nd position and a cash prize of PKR 15,000. Miss Rabail Naeem, a Speech therapist from Connections, scored the third position and won the cash prize of PKR 10,000.
The top three winners of the competition were awarded cash prizes and certificates in the concluding session of the World Psychiatric Congress 2022. All the contestants received e-certificates for participation in the contest.

Presented at: WPA THEMATIC CONGRESS ON “PUBLIC MENTAL HEALTH”; Lahore, Pakistan, March 2022

Prepared by: Dr. Madah Fatima & Dr. Sania Mumtaz Tahir & Prof Dr. Nazish Imran