Health benefits of coloring
Coloring, often viewed as a children's activity, is gaining popularity among adults for its mental health benefits. Engaging in coloring, particularly through intricate designs or mandalas, can promote relaxation and mindfulness, helping to reduce anxiety and depression. This therapeutic practice is seen as a form of art therapy, which has roots in the mid-20th century and has been used to support emotional expression, particularly in individuals who may struggle to articulate their feelings. Adult coloring books have surged in popularity since the early 2010s, appealing mainly to younger women but attracting a diverse audience seeking stress relief. Research indicates that participants in coloring activities experience lower levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms, demonstrating its potential as a calming pastime. This activity not only fosters creativity without the pressure of producing a perfect artwork but also aligns with mindfulness practices that encourage individuals to be present. As both mental and physical health are interconnected, engaging in activities like coloring can contribute positively to overall well-being.
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Health benefits of coloring
Although coloring is often considered an activity for children, increasing numbers of adults have been putting pencils and crayons to paper or downloading coloring apps. Adult coloring books and printable pages focus on various interests such as cats or literary works, or simply intricate designs such as mandalas. Most buyers of adult coloring books are younger women in their late teens and twenties. However, people of all ages find the activity relaxing and soothing. Experts say coloring offers mental health benefits such as reduced anxiety and depression that can in turn improve overall health.
Background
The earliest known coloring books for children emerged in the 1850s as the lithography printing method replaced wooden-block or copper-plate printing, enabling printers to churn out pages more quickly. During this era, attitudes toward children’s education and literature were changing as well. The first popular title, The Little Folks’ Painting Book, was published by the McLoughlin Brothers in about 1880. It was, as its title states, a book for children to paint, usually with watercolors, because wax crayons were not invented until 1903. Volumes of coloring books were produced for children over the next century, often to promote toys and movies.
Adult coloring books were produced at least as early as 1970, when Dover published Antique Automobiles. These titles are distinguished from children’s books by more intricate patterns such as mandalas or highly detailed artwork. Book industry experts credit artist Johanna Basford with starting the adult coloring book trend in 2013 with the publication of Secret Garden. Her publisher had approached her about illustrating a coloring book for children, but Basford said she was interested in an audience of adults. This niche market was quite small at the time, with only a handful of titles published every year. Though the publisher was skeptical, she persevered. The artist had trained as a textile designer, so she included a great deal of detail and whimsy in her pen-and-ink illustrations. Within ten years of publication, her first adult coloring book had sold more than ten million copies. She followed this title with Enchanted Forest in 2015. She described coloring as an analog hobby, a characterization that resonated with fans. Basford received so many emailed images of colored-in pages of her books that she established an online gallery on her website so people could upload the photos themselves and share information such as the type of colored pencils they used.
Nielsen BookScan reported that one million copies of coloring books were sold in 2014, and twelve million copies were sold in 2015. Nielsen reported Millennials, or those born from about 1981 to 1996, were 29 percent more likely to buy an adult coloring book than all book buyers, while 71 percent of adult coloring book purchasers were women.
Several publishers of coloring books for adults entered the market thanks to Basford’s success. For example, Stress Relieving Patterns, published in early 2015 by Blue Star Press, was a New York Times bestseller. By the 2015 holiday season, books in this category were selling out printing runs and were among the top holiday gifts. Sales remained strong through most of 2016 before slowing dramatically, but the market for adult coloring books remained steady into the 2020s.
Overview
Coloring pages is a form of art therapy, which was formalized in the middle of the twentieth century in Europe. It was often used in sanatoriums where patients with tuberculosis lived in isolation. Art therapy was soon adopted in mental institutions and later became common in child psychotherapy. In the United States, it was promoted by educator Margaret Naumburg and artist Edith Kramer.
Art therapy—which may involve techniques such as coloring, collage, drawing or doodling, painting, photography, and sculpting—allows individuals to express feelings. This is particularly useful when working with children, who often cannot articulate what they are experiencing. Art therapy is used to treat abuse, anxiety, eating disorders, grief, and trauma, among other concerns. It is used by people of all ages as a stress reliever both as a formal treatment and informally as a calming activity.
Coloring and other art therapy can help individuals be more mindful, or able to stay in the moment. Mindfulness decreases perseverative cognitive activities, or constantly thinking about negative past or future events. In simple terms, mindfulness helps people worry less. Researchers say that mindfulness can help people cope with stress and major illnesses and reduce anxiety and depression. Studies have shown that meditation, which is a means of cultivating mindfulness, reduces negative thinking and rumination, or a repetitive loop of negative thought processes, and improves memory and focus.
Advocates of coloring as art therapy note that the activity has many advantages over other techniques. Some participants in other art therapies may focus on flaws in their work, such as an inability to draw well. Researchers say this is particularly true of adults, who may feel that art therapy will not benefit them because they are not creative or artistic. Coloring reduces pressure to produce a beautiful work of art or decide what to create because participants are provided with the drawing. They simply decide how to color it. For example, they may do so realistically or fancifully, using bold or muted shades, according to participants’ tastes. Studies show that individuals achieve mindfulness from coloring reasonably complex patterns such as mandalas or detailed illustrations but do not benefit from coloring blank pieces of paper. Psychologist Jayde Flett and her colleagues found that individuals who colored daily for one week showed lower levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms, while a control group that completed logic puzzles did not.
Mental health affects physical health, and physical health has an impact on mental health. According to the Mental Health Foundation, almost one in three people with long-lasting physical health conditions also experience mental health problems, in particular anxiety and depression. Mental and physical health issues may be related for many reasons, including genetics. Certain medications and mental health issues may cause problems such as low energy and motivation, which could affect how an individual takes care of oneself. Mental health issues can cause concentration and planning problems, which could make seeking medical care difficult. Mental health issues can cause physical symptoms. For example, digestive issues, fatigue, and headaches are common among individuals with depression, while people with anxiety may experience difficulty concentrating, digestive issues, insomnia, and restlessness. Some medical providers may not investigate physical symptoms if they believe these are part of a patient’s mental illness and thus may not discover serious physical health problems.
Bibliography
Bobby, Joel. “Coloring Is Good for Your Health.” Mayo Clinic Health System, 15 Aug. 2022, www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/coloring-is-good-for-your-health. Accessed 29 Aug. 2023.
Cherry, Kendra. “What Is Art Therapy?” Verywell Mind, 8 Nov. 2022, www.verywellmind.com/what-is-art-therapy-2795755. Accessed 30 Aug. 2023.
“Child’s Play: Millennial Women Drive Sales of Adult Coloring Books.” Nielsen, June 2016, www.nielsen.com/insights/2016/childs-play-millennial-women-drive-sales-of-adult-coloring-books. Accessed 29 Aug. 2023.
Cornish, Audie. “Artist Goes Outside the Lines with Coloring Books for Grown-Ups.” National Public Radio, 1 Apr. 2015, www.npr.org/2015/04/01/396634471/artist-goes-outside-the-lines-with-coloring-books-for-grown-ups. Accessed 29 Aug. 2023.
Corona, Lauren. “What’s the Best Adult Coloring Book?” New York Magazine, 31 July 2023, nymag.com/strategist/article/best-adult-coloring-books.html. Accessed 29 Aug. 2023.
Curry, Nancy A., and Tim Kasser. “Can Coloring Mandalas Reduce Anxiety?” Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, vol. 22, no. 2, 2005, pp. 81 – 85. DOI: 10.1080/07421656.2005.10129441. Accessed 29 Aug. 2023.
Flett, Jayde A., Celia Lie, Benjamin C. Riordan, Laura M. Thompson, Tamlin S. Conner, and Harlene Hayne. “Sharpen Your Pencils: Preliminary Evidence That Adult Coloring Reduces Depressive Symptoms and Anxiety.” Creativity Research Journal, vol. 29, no. 4, 2017, pp. 409–416. DOI: 10.1080/10400419.2017.1376505. Accessed 30 Aug. 2023.
“Physical Health and Mental Health.” Mental Health Foundation, 18 Feb. 2022, www.mentalhealth.org.uk/explore-mental-health/a-z-topics/physical-health-and-mental-health. Accessed 30 Aug. 2023.