How Acting and Improv Support Mental Health
“Improv isn’t just about making people laugh — though of course, it can be! Over the past couple of years at the Courtyard Playhouse, it has helped me reconnect with my creativity, let go of perfectionism, be fully present, express my emotions, and build connections. What I didn’t expect was how valuable these lessons would be in supporting my mental health recovery journey.”
— Solène Anglaret, workshop participant
Solène’s experience reflects something many discover when they step into a drama or improv class: theatre isn’t only about performance, it’s about presence. It’s about permission to make mistakes, to connect with others, to breathe. And increasingly, research is showing what participants feel intuitively — that theatre practices can support mental health in ways that are both profound and practical.
Finding presence in a distracted world
Anxiety thrives on projection — worrying about what might happen next. Depression lingers in the past. Both pull us out of the present. Theatre drags us back.
Improvisation is particularly powerful here. A 2022 study in Frontiers in Psychology found that weekly improv sessions reduced symptoms of social anxiety, helping participants focus on “the here and now.” Unlike formal mindfulness training, which can feel abstract, improv achieves the same end by accident — through play, laughter, and collaboration.
Taming the critic
Most of us know that inner voice — the one that says, “Don’t mess this up” or “You’re not good enough.” Psychologists call it negative self-talk. Left unchecked, it feeds anxiety and erodes self-worth.
In theatre, mistakes are inevitable, and in improv they’re often the best part. The principle of “Yes, And” reframes missteps as opportunities. A 2020 controlled trial of a six-week improv programme reported “significant improvements in psychological well-being and divergent thinking” among participants. Researchers concluded that “engaging in improvisational theater can enhance psychological well-being while fostering creativity.”
Every time a scene falls apart into laughter, participants are rehearsing a new mental habit: treating themselves with compassion instead of criticism.
The social cure
Loneliness has been called a modern epidemic, with health risks on par with smoking. Theatre offers a natural antidote.
Acting and improv demand eye contact, empathy, and trust. A systematic review of drama-based interventions found “medium overall effects” on mental health outcomes, especially depression and anxiety (Krüger et al., 2022). Meanwhile, research at University College London showed that group creative activity boosts oxytocin (the bonding hormone) and lowers cortisol (the stress hormone).
The science backs up what every ensemble knows: a rehearsal room can be one of the most connected, supportive spaces in the world.
Permission to express
Life doesn’t give adults many sanctioned spaces to be silly, angry, joyful, or vulnerable without judgement. Theatre does.
Drama therapy, a clinical discipline, uses role-play to process emotions safely. But even outside therapy, theatre participation has been linked to “improved emotional awareness, empathy, and prosocial behaviour” (Dunphy et al., 2019). In a recent qualitative study, participants described drama work as “allowing playfulness” and “bridging inner and outer emotional worlds” (van Rijn et al., 2024).
This explains why many participants, like Solene, find themselves surprised: they came to improv for the laughs, and discovered a release valve for their inner lives.
Why it matters — especially this month
October is World Mental Health Month — a reminder that wellbeing isn’t just about crisis care, but about the practices that keep us grounded, resilient, and connected.
In a world that moves too quickly, acting and improvisation slow us down. They ask us to listen, to stay present, and to respond truthfully in the moment. Every exercise — from a silly warm-up to a deep character scene — encourages us to step outside our anxious loops and reconnect with the simple joy of play.
Theatre legend Jerzy Grotowski once wrote:
“Theatre—through the actor’s technique, his art in which the living organism strives for higher motives—provides an opportunity for … the discarding of masks, the revealing of the real substance … Here we can see the theatre’s therapeutic function for people in our present-day civilization.”
Those words feel truer than ever. On stage, we’re invited to drop the masks that daily life demands — to reveal the real substance underneath. It’s a space where we can explore our emotions safely, where vulnerability becomes strength, and where laughter and tears often coexist.
At the Courtyard Playhouse, we see this transformation every term. People arrive tense, uncertain, or self-critical, and slowly rediscover their spontaneity, humour, and humanity. Acting and improv help silence the inner critic, loosen perfectionism, and reconnect us to something deeply human — the need to express, to play, to belong.
Drama and improv aren’t replacements for therapy, but they are proven tools that ease anxiety, soften the inner critic, and restore connection. As one review concluded, “drama-based interventions have a significant role to play in mental health promotion and recovery” (McEnery et al., 2023).
So, this World Mental Health Month, take a step towards a more grounded, connected self. Join a theatre or improv course and experience what happens when you let go, play a little, and rediscover your creative core.