One question I get regarding my art is "Why is it soooo dark?". Which is usually followed by the comment, "You don't seem like a dark person". My response to this is that ironically it is the shadows and monsters are what help me navigate from those dark places. By embracing the shadow I've found a way to control the sadness and negativity that sometime overwhelm us mere mortals. Over the years I've tried to understand this and here's what I've come up with:
The monsters and I are one. My creations and I cannot be separated. My darker side is a conjoined twin that cannot be removed. We are forever entwined. I believe this to be the case with all humans. The shadow is ever present. What I've found useful and, in fact healthy is to give the monsters a place to roam. What I've found is that in my art the monsters and shadow can be more playful with a sense of humor. They come out and play for a while on my canvas or in a sculpture and then, after a bit of a stretch, they call it a day. Now, If they were cooped up in my head all the time who knows what sort of mischief they would get into. Shadows can be a dark force that create negativity, HOWEVER, I believe that having an "off leash" area in my artistic endeavors allows me to transform the negativity into something positive. The shadow now becomes a way of creating light...or at least defining it.
In my case, monsters have become buddies with a pretty good sense of humor, so they typically hang out in all my art pieces. I'm not saying they don't pester me with sadness or self doubt every so often but I do believe that there is a huge reduction in negative thoughts.
So my recommendation, make a monster a day. Whether it's a sketch, a painting, a clay figurine, realistic or abstract... create something daily and give it all your frustration and angst. Let your monster relieve a little bit of your burden. Give it a try...you don't need to be afraid of monsters.