Coloring as a stress reducer helps adults focus on the positive

There is a simple strategy to reducing stress and anxiety available to almost anyone anywhere. Just ask any of the thousands of adults attending adult coloring classes held primarily in public libraries.

A current trend sweeping the nation, adult coloring classes encourage adults of all ages to revisit their childhood days of relaxing with a pack of crayons and a coloring book.

The adult version, however, often includes colored pencils and markers and coloring sheets depicting intricate mandalas or complicated paisley patterns.

Librarian Christi Iffergan was pleasantly surprised when the Hickmans Crossroads Library’s first adult coloring class Aug. 25 drew 30 attendees.

“I wasn’t really sure if we would have many people,” she said.

Following the success of the initial class, the Brunswick County, N.C., library scheduled regular classes from 10-11 a.m. every Tuesday. The Friends of the Library pays for coloring supplies or participants can bring their own.

Iffergan said adding adult coloring was the idea of library book club member Chris Bork.

“She asked if I’d ever thought about doing it so I polled our book club and was shocked at how many people wanted to come,” Iffergan said. “We have a very active adult population here in all our programs. I just didn’t know how receptive our patrons would be but so many remarked that they love to color, especially with their grandchildren.”

A retired college professor, Bork said she saw a report on the nightly news and it brought back positive childhood memories, so she mentioned it to Iffergan.

“I had gone on Amazon and couldn’t believe the variety and number of coloring books for adults,” Bork said. She said some of the more popular books were even sold out.

Bork finds the intricate adult coloring designs require a higher level of focus. Retired from teaching law to paralegals at Gloucester County College in New Jersey, she feels coloring is such a valuable tool she has started sending a coloring book and pencils to her friends as retirement gifts.

“I saw it, I tried it and I believe in it,” she said, adding that her friends are not sure what to say when they first receive her gifts. “I say just give it a try. I looked at it like this is a new chapter and they would start to relax from the busy jobs they had.”

Bork also had a relative who had had coloring recommended to her by her doctor as a stress reliever. While it may seem a recent craze, therapists have recommended adult coloring to negate stress and negative emotions for years.

Clinical psychologist and assistant professor of psychology at Coastal Carolina University Emalee Quickel said coloring, “brings us a positive experience and builds mastery.”

“It’s just very easy so I think that is why people gravitate to it,” she said. “It is a simple task that gets people out of their heads and focused on the moment. A lot of stress comes from ruminating about the past or stressing about the future.”

Quickel said coloring requires the same type of cognitive skills as it does to worry.

She said creating something beautiful makes people feel they have accomplished something. She uses coloring in patient sessions by first coloring with them so they see how it works. While she has used this technique for about four years, she said many therapists have been doing it for a long time.

However, she added that there is little research to show how well it works since patients are free to determine if they want to apply it to their own lives outside of therapy sessions.

“As a clinician,” she said, “I can tell you I have seen positive results with my clients. I have used it with teens, college age and all ages of adults.”

At Horry County’s most visited library, Carolina Forest librarian Kim Cantley launched an adult coloring class in early August after hearing of its popularity. She had been putting out coloring pages for teens visiting the library when her research showed the trend of adult coloring is spreading across the county. So, she decided to try it.

“I asked, ‘why not?’,” she said. “When I go out to dinner I doodle with my 4-year-old son. For adults, it is relaxing, calming and requires more focus. It kind of brings back the inner child in all of us.”

Cantley’s classes held Mondays from 6-7 p.m. have drawn good numbers, mostly senior adults who enjoy not only the coloring, but the socialization.

For Gerri Levine, coloring has allowed her to revisit her artistic side. “Oh yeah,” she said. “I always had a bit of artistic flare. I love home decorating and the class allows me to sit around and talk to a nice group of people.”

Levine said at first the coloring was a challenge because she had not done it in a very long time.

“But I really got into it,” she said. “It’s something different than playing bingo. It’s nice just to do some artwork on your own again. I just color like I’m 5 years old again,” she said with a chuckle.

Having lost her husband in March, Leslie Eckert said she is seeking ways to find herself again. She said she came across adult coloring books online by accident while searching for gifts for her grandchildren. She started a folder to collect various patterns, including a geometric pattern book she ordered.

“It does de-stress you,” Eckert said. “I can spend three hours and wow, it’s gone by. There’s a lot of thought to it. It takes practice. Maybe I’ll frame some when I get good at it.”

The classes have drawn doodlers to true artists. Ed Brophy, who paints in oils, and friend Kathy Miller, a self-described “wanna be” artist who uses watercolor and acrylics, attended a class saying they saw it advertised and thought it would be something fun to do.

Cantley said coloring pages range from simple patterns to extremely complex and can often be downloaded free from numerous websites. She said adult coloring offers a creative, artistic and expressive outlet.

“The simple patterns that repeat are to encourage focusing and relaxation,” she said, while the more detailed patterns require more concentration.

She said adding adult coloring classes to the library’s schedule provides participants something new, something free and something that requires no specific skill set while allowing adults to express themselves through color. Stimulating areas of the brain that relate to motor skills and creativity are a plus. Also a plus is that there is no registration to come have a good time.

This story was originally published September 12, 2015 at 5:42 AM with the headline "Coloring as a stress reducer helps adults focus on the positive."