Week 4 ~ Why Colouring is Good for Grownups

Adult colouring books are everywhere these days. They’re widely acknowledged as being beneficial for mindfulness, stress relief and providing focus. A report from Booknet Canada summarising book sale trends in 2015 stated that although fiction sales had fallen slightly, “non-fiction” sales were up 5.5%, largely due to the inclusion of adult colouring books in the category.

In an article posted on Huffington Post, psychologist Dr. Nikki Martinez cites several good reasons why she prescribes colouring books for some of her patients, and even uses them herself.

She also notes that famous psychologist Carl Jung also prescribed them for his patients. He believed they helped his patients access their subconscious and acquire self-knowledge.

Dr. Martinez cites more modern medical research and gives additional reasons for indulging in what might seem to some people a less than grownup activity.

She begins by citing benefits to mental health, particularly for people who suffer from anxiety, obsessive-compulsive and depressive disorders, anger issues, PTSD and substance abuse problems. It can also combat boredom and lack of structure.

Research has shown that focusing on colouring calms the amygdala, the part of the brain that controls the “fight or flight” response, and keeps some people in a heightened state of worry, hyper-vigilance and panic when it is active.

Colouring lets our mind move from negative absorbing thoughts to more pleasant and relaxing ones. Time seems to pass more slowly, our breathing relaxes and we get mental distance from our worries.

She also claims that colouring has intellectual benefits as well. It uses areas of our brain that enhance concentration and focus. It nudges the brain into gentle problem-solving and organization while we decide colour schemes and work out the spatial relationships of areas on the page . We’re also improving our fine motor skills.

She says colouring also takes us back to simpler times, being an activity we may have last enjoyed when we were children. It can help our brains return to a time when our responsibilities were less demanding and we did something enjoyable just because we could, and when you add in the social contact of colouring in a group, there are more positive effects as well.

As a person who creates art on a regular basis, I've long known about the positive effects of creativity on the human brain. Well, my brain, at least. But finding this graphic below sums it up neatly ...