Acting is Reacting; Acting is Coping?

This paper seeks to explore how learning acting techniques might help to improve one’s relationship with their own mental health. Students are a vulnerable population when it comes to anxiety and depression, and acquiring the skills to recognize and cope with such disabilities could go a long way toward ensuring their health and success throughout higher education and beyond. The topic is explored through compiling and comparing various essays and books which cover esteemed psychiatric and acting techniques, in addition to personal reflection from the author, a graduate of Western Washington University’s acting program