Adult Coloring Sheets - For Stress Relief?

C an coloring the adult coloring sheets or coloring book relieve your stress? Yes, it can and it is also fun. A few years ago if someone...

Can coloring the adult coloring sheets or coloring book relieve your stress? Yes, it can and it is also fun.

A few years ago if someone said that adult coloring books will be the rage in promoting mental, emotional and intellectual health, he or she will probably be laughed at. These days, adult coloring books are very much sought after; they are frequently on the bestseller lists in both France and the UK. I have seen adult coloring books being prominently displayed at our local bookstores. It gets the prime spot that even the best selling novels failed to get.

These are also available as coloring sheets for people who prefer the 'tear-off' version.

Therapeutic Benefits of Adult Coloring Sheets 

There are very few studies done to evaluate the above statement, but many psychologists believed that adult coloring sheets or books can promote relaxation. If you need to refer to one particular study, then read 'Outcome Studies on the Efficacy of Art Therapy: A Review of Findings' by Sarah C. Slayton MA, ATR-BC Marylhurst University, Marylhurst, OR, Jeanne D'Archer MA, ATR-BC & Frances Kaplan DA, ATR-BC.

This study showed that adult coloring sheets or books have the therapeutic avenue as a stress reliever. It can reduce anxiety and create focus. It can even be helpful for a retired person or those that embraced the golden years to keep their mind alert and creative. And it was reported that College Coloring Books are now the rage in some universities to help students de-stress!

But how can these coloring sheets for adults help a person find their inner Zen?

Coloring Sheets - How It Helps

When you are so busy with your business, work, or household duties you get stressed or can even be annoying to others. Spending time on these coloring sheets can help you get out of this routine. It will make you feel more comfortable and relaxed at the end of a long day. This activity can also help a person to be with his/her thoughts. 

Helping You to Focus

Giving your own version of the various designs in the coloring books are a way to focus as you go about creating your masterpiece. It helps you focus on the act of coloring designs that are elaborate for hours, instead of focusing on intrusive and troubling thoughts which may lead to stress. The time spent on coloring helps divert a person from negative thoughts and keeps them focused and occupied in a healthy way.

When you are coloring, you utilize the frontal lobes of the brain to not just help you concentrate but also help with organizational skills and problem-solving.

Helping You to Relax

The art of coloring helps clear the mind and makes a person feel calmer, happier and more relaxed. Engaging in this unique hobby has benefited many who suffer from anxiety and trauma - their worries temporarily fade away as they are brought to a level of pure relaxation. It gives the brain-specific focus, which is similar to that of meditation or yoga. So, if yoga or meditation is tough for you, try adult coloring books instead!

Help People with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder 

If you suffer from PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, then the therapeutic action of doing these adult coloring sheets can help you with those anxiety and stress issues. How?

It works by calming down your amygdala, the almond-shaped mass of gray matter within the temporal lobes of the brain that controls the memory-processing, decision-making, and emotional reactions.

When you focus on the coloring you in a calm state of mind. You forgot your worries and you feel more relaxed. Your mind and body feel more rested.

The book, The Arts in Psychotherapy described how art therapy program was designed as an alternative treatment modality for Vietnam veterans who were dealing fifteen years later with the psychological sequelae of the war. The author presented this at the 14th annual American Art Therapy Association Conference, Chicago as far back as October 1983. It was also presented at the 3rd National Conference on the Treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Baltimore, in September 1984. So, if you think art therapy for the adult is a new fad, no it isn't. By the way, Carl Jung created mandala paintings and sketches as art therapy from 1916 through 1920.

Art Therapy and Cancer

There are several studies that had proven the effectiveness of illness-related therapy in the crisis intervention. The study on 'Art Therapy with Three Women Diagnosed with Cancer' by Erin Borgmann, M.S. explained how using art therapy with women cancer patients had enhanced coping strategies, helped them better understand their illness and motivated them to take positive steps toward improving their quality of life.

Coloring Through Cancer: An Adult Coloring Book with 30 Positive Affirmations to Encourage Cancer Survivors is an adult coloring book designed specifically for people who have lived with or are living with cancer. It has 30 affirmative illustrations to encourage and uplift every colorist.

Many cancer patients are now spending time on adult coloring books to relax, relieve stress and get through the painful treatment. 

This same art therapy with adult coloring books will probably work with a person that suffers from other types of illness as well.

Helping Your Problem Solving Skill

There is no such thing as “left-brained” or “right-brained" person. (you can read more here at  Psychology Today). We use both the right and left brain all the time, So when we do coloring we are using the logic and creative part of our brain. We think about the best color for each section of the design, and how to coordinate and balance the color. As we go about doing these, we are working on our problem solving and fine motor skills.

Easy Adult Coloring Books

The best thing about these adult coloring sheets is that, even if you lack artistic instruction or experience, you can color them as you like, There is no right or wrong way to color; you have the freedom to color it in however you wish and in whatever works best for you.

To get maximum benefits, coloring these books or sheets in a regular routine will help you find a way to color yourself calm.

To try these easy adult coloring books, check here at Amazon for a simple laid back design.

If you want to download adult coloring sheets for your android devices, read my review on the free adult coloring sheets here.

Benefits of Coloring Sheets for Adults

While there are values in the use of these adult coloring sheets or books, there are others who think otherwise. That an adult is more capable of doing other interesting things for relaxation instead of regressing to childhood and picking up crayons and color pencils as a form of therapy. That they should stick to knitting, music, gardening, art & craft etc. that are also therapeutic which can lessen depression and anxiety.

What's your take on this?

 “It is only too true that a lot of artists are mentally ill – it’s a life which, to put it mildly, makes one an outsider. I’m all right when I completely immerse myself in work, but I’ll always remain half crazy.”  

~ Vincent van Gogh, perhaps the most prominent 

example of the “mad artistic genius” 

who find peace when drawing,

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