For as long as I could remember, coloring was reserved for children and the occasional teen who got to babysit them. Recently, the activity has found a new demographic. What started as a niche hobby has now turned into a popular trend as adult coloring books are flying off the shelves. However, while this may be a fun way to pass time, it’s the books’ therapeutic properties that are really peaking interest.

While art may not be able to cure diseases, it can surely make coping with them a lot better. Researchers have acknowledged the therapeutic qualities of art for years, and today, art therapy is used to help people express themselves when what they feel it is too difficult to put into words.

The therapeutic properties of art is not limited to those with terminal diseases; art therapy is also helpful to people dealing with a variety of other conditions, such as depression, dementia, and PTSD. Just because adult coloring alone may not constitute art therapy, that doesn’t mean the activity isn’t helpful. With everything going on in the world, many people experience an inability to focus, which can be associated with anxiety or stress. Activities such as coloring a book tend to help those individuals as well.

Dr. Stan Rodski, a neuropsychologist who also happens to be the author of his own line of adult coloring books, says that coloring elicits a relaxing mindset, similar to what you would achieve through meditation. Like mediation, coloring allows us to switch off our brains from other thoughts and focus on the moment.

Do you have an adult coloring book?

SHARE the love, pass it on.