insideKENT Magazine Issue 42 - September 2015 | Page 20

ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT

Colour Therapy: FACT OR FAD?
There's a new therapy in town, and it goes by name of 'colouring'. That's not a
euphemism; I'm talking the popular childhood pastime we all know and love – from
scribbling and scrawling to shading, you name it, everyone's doing it. But is this just
another fad that will fall by the wayside? There's only one way to find out... BY GEMMA DUNN

I loved colouring as a child, whether it was on
long car journeys, in school, at a restaurant or
keeping busy on rainy days – it was my 'thing'.
The brighter, the better. But as an adult, I lost the
habit; much like many other activities associated
with youth, there comes a time when you have
to down the felt tips, realise you're too big to
hang out at the park and simply accept that until
you – or those around you – produce offspring,
you're unlikely to indulge in such innocent, fun
pursuits.
So what if that didn't have to be the case? I'm
not suggesting you should attempt the monkey
bars, but how about trying your hand at some
adult-intended colouring books? Judging by
recent sales figures, you certainly wouldn't be
alone in your support for the revival of this favoured
hobby.
But why colouring? According to the makers of
such books, much of the appeal is rooted in
nostalgia; a feeling of content, underpinned by
an ability to revert to childhood purity. For me, it
made me happy; it was something I could do
alone (I always quite liked being the master of
my own work) and I enjoyed presenting the end,
polished product to those around me. For other
children, colouring was a task that required little
social interaction and minimal obligation, yet it
was rewarding – after all, the idea of adding

colour to an existing image is far less daunting
than creating one from scratch.
Little has changed. I still thrive on the feeling of
completion and I seek out therapeutic distractions
to make me happy in what we all know can
(sometimes) be a testing, overwhelming and
stressful existence. With depression the
commonest illness in the Western World, it's
impo rtant to discover new sources of light relief
– and that's exactly what I found in creative
colouring for grown-ups.
From art and creative therapy to books that focus
on de-stressing and aiding sleep, the range on
the market may vary in subject but they all have
the same objective in mind: to refocus the mind
and to relax, unwind, and relieve the colourer of
any worries and tension.
Only too happy to revert to the mental age of
seven, I decided the best way to test the remedy
would be to drag my work colleagues away from
their laptops and decipher their stress levels
before and after a mid-afternoon, hour-long
colouring session. The rules: pick a book from
the pile, explain your choice, and then colour to
your heart's content.
To begin, spirits were high; we not only had an
hour or so of downtime but we were ready and

20

willing to scribble our troubles away!
insideSUSSEX's Sam Jones and Maz Ogden
had both gone for the same title, The Neon
Colouring Book; but there could only be one
winner, and a triumphant Sam explained she had
picked it because it was 'bright, and bright colours
make me happy'.
Maz's second choice was Animorphia, while over
in the insideKENT corner Donna had opted for
I Love Colouring Patterns, and Alex for An AntiStress Colouring Book. Their motives? Donna
assured me she picked a smaller volume to
enable herself to finish the chosen page and feel
accomplished; and Alex, simply because it was
the first one he saw.
Stress levels at this point were mixed across the
board, but all willing to improve and lower the
degree further, we embraced the practice. At this
point, the highest (out of 10) was Donna at 11+...
and the lowest, Alex at four.
In the period that followed, myself and the group
incessantly coloured an array of tranquil patterns
and doodles in felt tips and pencils; the only
issues being aching hands, staying within the
lines and finishing what we had started within
the time slot. Incredibly serious stuff!