Central students are discovering a new trend: “grown-up” coloring books. With their unique and complex patterns, these coloring books will often claim to be therapeutic or enhance mindfulness. Art therapy has proven its worth in the past decade. From cancer patients to those dealing with conditions such as anxiety or depression, coloring books have provided relief.

“I always keep [a coloring book] in my car,” stated Austin Rosenzweig, a Central junior. Rosenzweig deals with ADHD and often uses coloring to help himself focus. The coloring book trend has “popped up out of nowhere,” according to Rosenzweig.

Like Rosenzweig, many people have benefited from the therapeutic effects of coloring books. Some even  compare coloring to meditation. In the fast paced world of high school, large amounts of stress are commonplace. Even teachers and other staff feel the weight of school anxieties.

Melinda Martin, the librarian at Central, loves coloring books almost as much as the ones on her library shelves. “I started coloring with my daughter,” Martin explained. She often uses coloring to clear her head during the hectic school day. Although Martin has been coloring much longer than the recent trend, she has enjoyed the new, diverse array of coloring books that have emerged in the past few years.

As we all know, high school can be incredibly stressful. As students, it is important to find methods to relieve this stress and navigate our way through these four years. New trends in art therapy are a colorful way to mediate everyday stresses and anxieties.