Bob Ross and mental health

Ian_Adkins

There's a segment on NPR's Morning Edition today about teachers attending children's mental health during the pandemic. One of these teachers is showing her primary students short clips of Bob Ross daily for stress relief.

A few years ago I was diagnosed with a nonspecific cyclical mood disorder, similar to bipolar II or cyclothymia but not quite diagnosable under the DSM. Nevertheless, they gave me a mood stabilizer, but the transition was difficult and I experienced something called agitated depression. Watching Bob was a bit part of getting me through. I think he may have helped save my life.

I'm curious to know if anyone else has had experiences with Bob Ross, his particular personality, expressions, and affirmations, that have been a boon to their mental health, particularly this last year and some.

(Lest anyone worry, the prescription works and I am largely without complaint. I feel "normal," and have weathered the pandemic well. I should also give credit to The Book of Joy, by the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu, which I recommend to anyone.)

Voy Kay

Ian_Adkins I must admit Ian, that I'm always in a relaxing and calm mood when watching Bob Ross on tv/pc.
When I paint his creations though, I am more agitated, that is for certain since I try to follow what he does AND try to paint at least half as fast.
I should try to avoid such moods when following Ross. Bill Alexander however can be a fistful of dynamite at times. I really try to overlook him!

ShadowscarsDragon

Ian_Adkins Absolutely. I work in mental healthcare, and have found a lot of value in Bob's teachings for personal expression, self-esteem, and acceptance. I never, ever thought I'd produce beautiful art, let alone consider myself an artist, but here we are. He told me I could do anything I'm willing to practice, and he was right. I use that example often at work to demonstrate that you can do anything that you want if you practice, be it expressing your emotions, managing your anger, stopping negative thoughts, or any behavioral change.

Ian_Adkins

@Voy Kay#1626 Yes, watching for pleasure and watching for instruction are entirely different balls of wax. Though hopefully there comes a point where one sees the finished painting and says, Aha, I know how that was created, and can replicate it without the step-by-step.

As for the excitable Prussian...maybe watch with the sound off sometimes. 😊

Sunnylady

Ian_Adkins I liked painting with Bill Alexander - his fountain of energy gave such incredible feel to paint along! I like that he explains light better than Bob does. But Bob surely makes me sleep better 🙂

Colin Hudson

Watching Bob is my best form of relaxation. His laugh when he has just washed a brush and is wacking the easel leg with it always makes me smile. His calm voice and little sayings never fail to sooth any amount of stress. He makes life, and painting, so much simpler with his step by step, logical approach.

tel

On the rare occasion where i might try to "copy" a Bob tutorial i prefer to simply freeze frame on the end result and use my own wits trying to get there, not always the case of course, i have spent many frustrating hours trying to follow step by step every stroke of the brush laid down by Bob. In his own words Bob does not encourage copying but simply sets out to teach the technique

Dellajoy

Watching Bob Ross always makes me relax and I so enjoy listening to him. He was such a good person always positive!! I'm kind of obsessed with him ;-)

Lilikins

When I was a kid/teen Bob Ross reruns would play on our local PBS from 1am-3am. I often suffered from bouts of insomnia and listening to Bob always helped me get to sleep.

Also it should be noted that during the beginning of the pandemic when many went into lockdown Bob Ross was trending on Netflix. I think his soothing voice and positivity helped many people during a difficult time. I know he helped me.

ironchefmitty

I started my journey into painting to cope with election stress. I haven’t looked back since. Painting and watching Bob have been tremendous coping skills.

Ian_Adkins

Sunnylady They have different energies, that's for sure. I like Bill Alexander, he really is the magister magistrorum, though sometimes I do lower the volume. 😊 Actually, he strikes me as a depressed person who revs himself up, with effort, to pull free. But when he's quieter I think it seeps out just a bit, usually in the form of a sigh. I'm very much reading between the lines, but my conjecture is that his coming in and of retirement probably coincided with long depressive episodes. But he's more obscure and even further away in memory than Bob (yes, I know he died two years after latter, but he had been retired for five years or so, after being out of the spotlight since handing "my almighty brush" to Bob), so getting more than just the official company hagiography is unlikely. Which is also not unlike Bob.

Sunnylady

Ian_Adkins I read biography of Bill and would not be surprised if he was a very depressed person. Life beaten him up quite a lot. But what many people do, they smile and go further, some break though...

Ian_Adkins

Sunnylady When you're drafted into the Wehrmacht in the waning months of the war, you're off to a bad start. Bill may never have been able to shake the "black dog," as Churchill called his depression, but he had a fairly noteworthy life and successes along the way.

Mrs C

I bought a book of Bob paintings and quotes, it's just a small one, but when I feel a bit down I love to look at his quotes and it reminds me how lucky we are to have paint and canvas, to have imagination and to have had Bob. These things make me smile, Bobs life wasn't easy, as so many peoples aren't and he found a wonderful way to find a happy place.
This last year has been a struggle for many sociable people especially, I have never been so included as I have ME and Fibro, social interactions are exhausting, and managing work too, leaves me little energy for much else, but Bob brings just a little light to me, I paint when I can, when I have energy, (and I always over do it), but it is always worth it, to learn something, to grow, to find that happy place where I belong.
When I read a quote from Bobs book also I hear it in his voice too 🙂

wybnormal

I am not by nature, an extroverted person. I've learned to do it and do it fairly well. But, the pandemic has let me relax ALOT in many ways. Getting back into painting is an outcome of that relaxing. It was Bob's laid back approach that convinced me that I had a fighting chance with painting 🙂 And I had the mental bandwidth available vs having to commute each day and deal the idiots in the office. i still deal with them but it's all remote and far easier 🙂 If one good thing has come of all this crazy in my world, it's the art I've been creating and my mental reset.