One thing that arts communities have in common the world over is their tight relationships and sense of community. Artists rely on support from one another in order to thrive and the ethic of supporting local artists is strongly promoted and celebrated within arts communities. Because artists are characteristically sensitive people, support from members of their community is notorious and readily available. This ethic is very important, as artists often have challenging struggles to face down.

Because of the stress of finances, artistry and even sometimes celebrity, many artists go through times of immense mental hardships, addiction and substance abuse. Artists are naturally very responsive to matters of the heart, and when they are down on their luck or being dealt a hard card, they are statistically more likely to resort to substance abuse and addiction than people in other professions. The life of an artist is very nontraditional and hard for those outside the arts community to understand, so when hard times fall upon an artist, it is largely other artists they turn to.

Often times, even more than family members and friends, it is artists who come to the aid of other artists to help them through addiction and substance abuse. In fact, there are few other professions where the need for addiction recovery is so great, and where the need is met. In a local arts community, it is almost guaranteed that at least some of the community knows who is struggling with addiction or substance abuse and is taking it upon themselves to support and hold accountable the person with the problem. For an example of a community helping its members through substance abuse, mental disorders and addiction, observe the arts community.