Have you ever wondered how much colour can affect your life and help you reduce stress and anxiety? I considered this subject and decided to see if colour could help me and my clients.
Introduction
In my job as a counsellor and hypnotherapist, I see many professional people who feel overwhelmed with juggling home life against the increasing work pressures.
Their stories and metaphors can convey what they are thinking and feeling. For example, some people describe grey days and the burden of a black cloud over them. Other people might love to wear yellow or have a favourite room painted in a soft pastel green.
The amount of light and saturation can also affect colours. The intensity can affect the intensity of the emotion that it can trigger. Many people also complain of hating the British winters and long for light blue skies and sunny days. They like light. We know that light is beneficial emotionally and physically as it impacts our circadian rhythms. Now that the importance of sunlight has been recognised, light therapy is an acceptable way to help people with moods related to Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).
Often, through prompting, people can also describe their problem as a colour, which makes it easier for me to help them because I can better understand the impact that the issue is having on them and how I can help.
This led me to explore the world of colour psychology and how it might help me better understand people’s reactions to colour, including stress and anxiety.
I also wondered if talking about or imagining colour would help them to feel better.
What is stress and anxiety?
Stress and anxiety are often discussed together, but they are not the same.
Stress is about demands and pressures on people. For example, you might have too much work to do in a short timeframe, which can make you feel stressed.
Anxiety is diagnosed by a doctor and includes recognised issues such as Obsessive-compulsive disorder, general anxiety disorder, panic attacks, phobias and more.
Both stress and anxiety are related to the ‘fight and flight’ responses when people feel threatened and want to survive.
They can both make you feel tense, have stomach problems, headaches, insomnia, or be more prone to picking up coughs and colds.
What is colour psychology?
Colour psychology is a branch of psychology that can be used in emotional balance, marketing, interior design and building design.
Colour therapy, or chromotherapy, is an alternative therapy that uses colour. Some practitioners use coloured lights or scarves to help people change moods and heal, but some consider it a pseudoscience. Nevertheless, here are increasing pieces of research that are demonstrating its efficacy.
Colour has long been known to affect people. Ancient civilisations have used colours in a variety of ways to help people.
Carl Jung, a leading psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, explored the subconscious and emotional effects of colour and helped develop colour psychology as we know it today. He also linked colour preferences to personalities.
Artwork uses colours to stimulate thoughts and feelings.
The human experience is steeped in colour, shaping how we interpret things.
Nevertheless, marketing has embraced colour psychology, and marketing students are taught the importance of logo colours, website colours and advertising colours, especially in brand identity.
Colour also impacts buildings and design, as research shows that colours can affect our physical and mental well-being.
Why colour matters
Colour matters because it influences cognitive and behavioural changes and will play a part in buying decisions.
It also has an impact on emotions.
Yet not all cultures agree on the way different colours make them feel. The Chinese like red, so you will often see Chinese restaurants painted red. Some people think green is lucky. Most people worldwide like blue.
Colours can also be affected by our experiences and perceptions in life.
People associate colour with objects they like. For example, if someone feels positive when looking at a blue sky on a sunny day, they are likelier to favour blue. The opposite effect can also happen. So if someone had a bad experience in a black car, they are likelier to dislike the colour black. This is based on the Ecological Valence Theory (Palmer and Schloss 2010).
Colour, therefore, matters because it is a contributing factor to why people are stressed and anxious.
The power of hues
Studies have identified physical changes to the body by colour. Although the colours and associated emotions are not always described in the same way.
For example, one study showed that red increases blood pressure.
On the other hand, a blue colour decreases blood pressure.
Although there is no exact science behind colour-related emotions, primary colours are often associated with particular moods. More studies are exploring colour psychology and can now give us some situations where colour has made a difference.
For example:
Blue: Calming, loyalty, and stability. Lowers blood pressure.
Green: Refreshing, restores energy.
Violet: Balances the mind and encourages peace.
Pink: Soothes and reduces aggression.
Yellow: Stimulates happiness and energises.
White: Purifies the mind and promotes clarity.
Orange: Boosts enthusiasm and reduces fatigue.
Tips on areas of your life that you should consider colour
- Colour in the environment. Light and colour in buildings. Green can help people connect with nature.
- Colour in what you want to wear. Different coloured clothes can affect emotions.
- Colour in business. Colours in brand identity.
- Colour in leisure: Actively using colours in areas such as hobbies, such as painting, drawing, photography, and interior design.
Colour to reduce stress and anxiety
Here are five colours to reduce stress and anxiety
- Green and white. One study examined green and white foliage in urban environments and found that more greenery had a calming effect. Increasingly, nature’s colours are found to have a positive effect.
2. Blue. Blue is calming, and wearing this well-liked colour may help you relax. However, blue light from electronic devices at night can affect circadian rhythms and contribute to insomnia, so it is advisable not to look at electronic devices before bedtime.
3. Yellow. This bright and energising colour can stimulate endorphins, those feel-good hormones.
4. Soft pastel pink. Pale pink helps you to feel calm. One study found blue and pink to be the most calming colour.
5. Lavender. This is another soft colour that is said to evoke feelings of tranquillity.
Conclusion
Listening to and understanding a client’s problem is the first step in my assessment process.
I might note the colours that they are wearing, and I will sometimes use Neurolinguistic (NLP) techniques to ascertain the stress and anxiety colour and shape to develop metaphors to reduce the stress and anxiety.
During hypnotherapy and/or counselling, I embrace the positivity that the perception of colours can give clients and use this in visualisation, imagery, and discussions to build a positive mindset.
But more than this, I have considered the colours in my brand identity and work environment to help clients feel comfortable with me.
For more information about my services for reducing stress and anxiety, please book a free initial consultation.
References
Hussain, A. R. (2021). Colour Psychology in Art: How Colour Impacts Mood. Art and Design Review, 9, 301-308. https://doi.org/10.4236/adr.2021.94025
Kexiu L, Elsadek M, Liu B, Fujii E. Foliage colors improve relaxation and emotional status of university students from different countries. Heliyon. 2021 Jan 31;7(1):e06131. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e06131. PMID: 33553766; PMCID: PMC7855717. TY – JOUR
Lubos, L. 2012. The Role of Colors in Stress Reduction. Liceo Journal of Higher Education Research 5(2)DOI:10.7828/ljher.v5i2.39 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/314578015
Takemura Y, Kido K, Kawana H, Yamamoto T, Sanuki T, Mukai Y. Effects of Green Color Exposure on Stress, Anxiety, and Pain during Peripheral Intravenous Cannulation in Dental Patients Requiring Sedation. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Jun 1;18(11):5939. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18115939. PMID: 34205936; PMCID: PMC8199048.
Yu E, Zhu J, Tan Y, Liao Z, Qiu Y, Zhang B, Wang C, Wang W. Color preferences in participants with high or low hypnotic susceptibility. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2018 Jan 30;14:393-398. doi: 10.2147/NDT.S154887. PMID: 29430180; PMCID: PMC5796459.
