Motivation and emotion/Book/2015/Meditative colouring and stress

Meditative colouring and stress:
How does meditative colouring reduce the levels of stress or anxiety of an individual?

Multimedia presentation (3 min)

Overview

If you walk into any bookshop, large chain store or newsagent, you will be bombarded with a display of books claiming to be colouring-in books for adults, also known as meditative colouring. Unlike children’s colouring books which typically feature fairies and dragons, adult colouring book are comprised of patterned, non-specific pictures all waiting to be filled in. Meditative colouring books come in a wide variety of sizes and shapes, including A5 sized for convenient travelling, featuring various types of themes including geometric shapes, animals, flowers or in the theme of a specific country, i.e. France. Many of these books claim to have calming, meditative properties and the ability to reduce stress. Titles such as 'colour me calm' or 'mindfulness colouring' lead the consumer to believe in stress reducing properties.

This book chapter will discuss the question, how does meditative colouring reduce the levels of stress or anxiety of an individual? Meditative colouring is essentially a simplified version of art therapy, used in psychology as an alternative form of treatment for an array of disorders, including anxiety disorders. The properties of anxiety will first be discussed, including types of anxiety disorders and different forms of treatment options. This will be followed by looking at what art theory is as a whole, types of art therapy including art programs for those with mental disabilities, how art helps reduce levels of anxiety and how colouring falls into this category. Finally, this chapter will discuss the possibility of future research in this field and the implications of current research on how we treat anxiety.

The Meditative Colouring Trend

Figure 1: Colouring in for adults

In the pass six months, meditative colouring book have been toping the best seller charts. The first books to be released, starting this ever growing tread were ‘Enchantard Forest’ by Johanna Basford and ‘The Mindfulness Colouring’ book by Emma Farrarons and have been in the best selling charts since May in 2015 (Barr, 2015). Books are not the only option for those who which to participant in this trend. Apps for both Apple and Android have been created allowing the user to either print patterns and colour by hand, or colour on their device.

This colouring trend has not been limited to obscure patterns, floral pictures and geometric shapes. It is now possible to get themed books such as Doctor Who or Harry Potter. However, regardless of the pattern in question, all of these book claim to reduce levels of anxiety or stress, calming the mind whilst still occupying the brain with a task. This is not entirely a new phenomena. Various forms of art have been used as therapy for many years (Barr, 2015). The colouring tread is in a way, a new twist on an old idea.

If you want to check out colouring books, see: http://www.bookdepository.com/search?searchTerm=colouring&search=Find+book

Get free colouring pages here: http://www.coloring-pages-adults.com/coloring-zen/.

What is Anxiety?

Anxiety Defined

Anxiety disorders are define by DSM-5 as ‘Disorders that share features of excessive fear… anxiety is the anticipation of a future threat… often associated with muscle tension and vigilance in preparation for future danger and cautious or avoidant behaviours (DSM-5, 2013).’ Stress differs from anxiety in the level of severity. A small amount of stress, while having the same symptoms as anxiety, can be non harmful to the individual and is considered a normal reaction to life’s circumstances. Anxiety on the other hard, is a constant state of excessive stress, that is considered an over reaction to the circumstances (Curry & Kasser, 2005). Both stress and anxiety are triggered by the bodies ‘fight or flight’ system. When the body perceives a threat, flight or flight mode is activate and the body must decide if it will fight the treat, or retreat. Either way, the body increases levels of hormones such as adrenaline in order to make a quick decision if needed (Curry & Kasser, 2005). Anxiety occurs when the body is in the state for excessive periods of time, when no threat is present (Curry & Kasser, 2005).

Types of Anxiety

DSM-5 identifies several different types of anxiety disorders, including, but not limited to the following:

• Separation anxiety: the fear of loosing or harm coming to a particular attachment figure. This included the fear of events that could lead to the separation of them selves from the attachment figure. Symptoms include nightmares and psychical symptoms of distress.
• Selective mutism: the failure to speak in situation where an individual is expected to do so. The individual is capable of speech but chooses not as a result of fear. This lack of communication interferes with normal social activities.
• Specific phobia: the fear about or avoidance of a particular object or situation.
• Social anxiety disorder: the individual is fearful or anxious about social interaction. The individual may be avoidant of social situations. The fear is associated with unfamiliar people, situations in which people may be able to see the individual or in a situation where the individual is asked to preform a task in front of others. The individual is fearful of being scrutinised or evaluated by others, bing embarrassed, or rejected.
• Panic disorder: when an individual experiences recurrent unexpected panic attacks and is worried about having more panic attacks. Panic attacks are characterised by periods of fear, causing psychical symptoms such as difficulty breathing, excessive sweating, shaking or inability to think about anything else other than the worries.
• Generalised anxiety disorder: consistent worry or far about a variety of life areas, including school, work, friendships, family. Individuals display physical symptoms include easier fatigued, difficultly concentrating, fighting, irritability and sleep issues.

Art as Therapy

What is Art Therapy

Art therapy roots have been followed back to the early 1900s (Junge, 1994). Art therapy is an application of knowledge about human emotional, social and behavioral developments (Reynolds et. al, 2000). Art therapy is a type of psychotherapy; it uses the media of art as a primary form of communication. Clients who are undertaking art therapy are not required to have art training, rather the art therapist has an aim to effect change and growth on a personal level. The term ‘art’ in art therapy encompasses anything creative and is not limited to just painting; it could include card making, pot painting and candle making. Any creative media that allows the participant an outlet, works as an effective from of art therapy. A very recent form of art therapy is with the use of colouring-in books. This media allows a simplified version of drawing or painting, in that very little artistic or creative skill is needed, rather only the creative vision of what the picture will come out as once coloured. Therefore, the colouring media works the same as any other from of art therapy, but is simple enough for any individual to participate in. This makes art therapy a very versatile form of art theory, readily available to most people in the general public.

Research on Art and Anxiety levels

There have been many studies into the effectiveness of art therapy in reducing levels of anxiety. Reynolds, Nabors, and Quinlan (2000) explored 17 empirical studies of the effectiveness of art therapy, and found 3 different conditions for exploring the effectiveness of art therapy. These are single group with no control, controlled clinical trial and randomized controlled clinical trial. All of the studies had a positive outcome supporting the idea that art therapy is effective in reducing levels of anxiety. Recent studies have been explored by Slayton, D’Archer, and Kaplan in response to Reynolds, Nabors, and Quinlan (2000). The studies referred to go from 1999 to 2007 and have been selected such that they look at art therapy without influence of other therapies. The findings show that art therapy is effective in treating a variety of symptoms, age groups and disorders.

Studies have also been performed into the effectiveness of a specific form of art colouring in the reduction of anxiety. Curry and Kasser (2005) showed that colouring mandalas, which is a reasonably complex geometric pattern, potentially put the individual into an induced meditative state which assists with the suffering of anxiety. This can be said for art therapy in general, in that the meditative state is what cases the body to relax, reducing anxiety and calming the body away from the fight and flight reaction.

Sandmire et. al (2010) look at the effect of art making on anxiety. The study comprised of 57 undergraduate students who had only one week until their final examination. The art making activities comprised of painting, collages and life style drawings. The results of the participant mean anxiety in the pre test and post test showed a dramatic decrease in score. These findings imply a short period of art making can lower a person’s state of anxiety.

Implications and Future Research

In this particular area of study in Art therapy, there is a huge opportunity for more research. Very little research has been done into meditative colouring specifically making it hard to come to a definitive conclusion about how meditative colouring actually reduces stress levels. This lack of research is most likely due to how new the colouring trend is. Research into the psychical processes in the brain during colouring and its effect on stress levels, would be beneficial and could produce more definitive answers. However, it is worth noting that large amounts of work have gone into art therapy itself and have proven that art is effective in reducing stress levels, therefore it is logical conclusion that meditative colouring would be effective.

Another point worth considering is whether or not art therapy is effective on its own as an intervention program or if it only works in conjunction with other treatment plans. The same must be considered when looking at the effectiveness of meditative colouring. It is hard to measure just the one phenomena without considering the impact of other external influences. Finally, is it suggested that studies should be conducted on the effectiveness of this treatment on different age groups and genders. Social gender influences may limited the effectives of meditative colouring in male participants and is worth studying further.

Conclusion

Meditative colouring is a form of art therapy that has become a relatively new trend. With colouring books readily available in local bookshops, the effectiveness of meditative colouring on anxiety should be examined. The evidence suggests that art therapy is effective in reducing levels of anxiety with and without other intervention methods. However, there is room in the field for future research into meditative colouring.

References

Barr, L. (2015). Adult colouring-in books are the latest craze. NewsComAu. Retrieved 30 October 2015, from http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/sunday-style/adult-colouring-in-books-are-the-latest-craze/story-fnizhafo-1227564875097

Case, C., & Dalley, T. (2006). The handbook of art therapy. London: Routledge.

Coloring Pages for adults,. (2014). Zen and Anti stress - Coloring Pages for adults. Retrieved 30 October 2015, from http://www.coloring-pages-adults.com/coloring-zen/?image=anti-stress__coloring-adult-rosaces__1

Cooper, R. Diagnosing the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders.

Curry, N., & Kasser, T. (2005). Can Coloring Mandalas Reduce Anxiety?. Art Therapy, 22(2), 81-85. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2005.10129441

Depository, B. (2015). Results for colouring