You may have noticed the popular trend finding its way onto many peoples desks, or in their hand on the way work, it’s people keeping busy with colouring books. Book stores, and even apps, have taken notice of how therapeutic creating your own unique pieces of art can be.
Study’s show cancer patients find new levels of comfort, and those suffering from depression, dementia, anxiety and PTSD found colouring very helpful.
Drena Fagen, an art therapist and adjunct instructor at New York University’s Steinhardt School, shared Betts’ sentiments: “I don’t consider the coloring books as art therapy,” she told The Guardian. “I consider the coloring books therapeutic, which is not the same thing.”
“It should occupy the same parts of the brain that stops any anxiety-related mental imagery happening as well. … Anything that helps you control your attention is going to help” says Dr. Joel Pearson, a brain scientist at the University of New South Wales in Australia.
Colouring can have a major impact on our mental state, so the next time you get the chance pick up some pencil crayons and let your creativity flow, and enjoy a new way to relax.
