According to the news item, doctors use art therapy to treat the following probl

In Dakar, psychiatric patients attend regular art therapy classes to help treat mental disorders. The therapy can be a useful technique to complement traditional forms of psychotherapy. Psychiatrists in the Senegalese capital’s main hospital see it as an essential part of the healing process. Art as psychotherapy is still relatively new in Senegal. Dr. Tabara Sylla, (25) the hospital’s chief psychiatrist uses art therapy, medication and classical forms of psychotherapy in her practice, treating everything from chronic depression to alcohol abuse and schizophrenia. (26) At first the project started as a way to keep patients busy in the afternoon, rather than have them sitting around smoking. It soon became clear that art was creating a communication bridge between patient and doctor. More and more now, she says, art workshops have become essential therapy—so much that she cannot imagine this psychiatric unit without them.