3 science-backed reasons coloring books are the hottest mental health hack around
Adults are just realizing what 5-year-olds already know: Coloring is amazing.

There's never been a better time to feel like a kid again. For as long as there have been mortgages, taxes, jobs, and speeding tickets, there have been adults who wish they could turn back the clock to simpler times. That's nothing new. But nostalgia has recently gone next-level.
If you want, you can now go away to adult summer camp, where you'll leave all technology at the entrance and enjoy four days of archery, tie-dye, and hiking. You can also spend a day at adult preschool, where you'll do arts and crafts, play games, and reconnect with your favorite childhood buddy: nap time.
Coloring books, though, are by far the most popular kids' activity for grown-ups. And it's not hard to see why.
Just imagine your favorite coloring book as a kid, only updated to reflect your much-improved motor skills and worldliness. Wouldn't it be nice to take an hour with a cup of coffee and get lost in a sea of possibility and imagination?
If you did, it might look something like this.
Jenni Whalen/Upworthy
Beautiful, isn't it? So beautiful, in fact, that crotchety, jaded adults all over the world are dusting off their crayons and giving it a try.
Coloring books have been picking up popularity for close to a decade now. They had a big moment in 2016 before dying down again, and now thanks to TikTok, interest in adult coloring is absolutely exploding.
What's new is that it's easier than ever to find a community based around a mutual love of coloring. #ColoringTok on TikTok is full of million-plus view videos of people showing off their amazing creations and tools. A subreddit dedicated to adult coloring currently features over 50,000 members. It's a solo activity meant to calm your body and mind, but it adds a little something extra when you're able to share what you've made with the world.
@amandlnee Have a good night 😴💤✨ @bobbiegoods coloring book @Ohuhuart markers • #coloring #coloringtherapy #coloriage #cutecoloring #amsrcoloring #ohuhumarkers #coloringbook #bobbiegoodscoloringbook #bobbiegoods #cozycoloring #colorwithme #relax
These books are selling at breakneck pace. Publishers are even having trouble keeping them in stock.
The book that started the craze, "Secret Garden: An Inky Treasure Hunt and Coloring Book," has sold over 2 million copies worldwide since its release in 2013.
Jenni Whalen/Upworthy
And there are many more like it burning up the bestseller lists.
"We've never seen a phenomenon like it in our thirty years of publishing. ... We just can't keep them in print fast enough," Lesley O'Mara, managing director of Michael O'Mara Books, told The New Yorker.
It doesn't look like this coloring book train is slowing down any time soon, so here are three reasons you need to get on board.
1. A good coloring session can relieve stress and anxiety.
Jenni Whalen/Upworthy
There might be more to this whole coloring thing than just feeling like a kid.
Marti Faist, an art therapist, told the Baltimore Sun, "When someone is coloring, their mind and body are operating in a more integrated way. It's almost a meditative process."
"I've watched people under acute stress, almost panic-attack levels, color and have their blood pressure go down very quickly. It's cathartic for them."
And Marti's not the only one. Maybe you've heard of a guy named Carl Jung?
Jung was a big fan of art therapy, and he used coloring as a relaxation technique back in the early 1900s. He even believed that the colors his patients chose reflected an expression of deeper parts of their psyche. Jung himself actually used to draw and color mandalas, or spiritual geometric shapes, every morning. These same mandalas are the foundation of a lot of the most popular stress-relieving coloring books today.
2. No paper? No problem. Now, you can color on the go.
Photo and digital coloring skills by Heather Kumar/Twitter.
You know the rule: It's not an official craze unless it's integrated into social media. So, as appealing as drawing at your kitchen table for hours on end sounds, you can now color on your smartphone or tablet with just a few swipes of your finger, and you can easily tweet or Instagram your creations, too.
Colorfy, the most popular coloring app on the market, has been a huge hit with the mobile crowd, pulling in over 300,000 reviews on iTunes (it's also on Android).
A recent reviewer wrote: "This is a really great app. It lets me pass the time in a calming yet creative way."
But maybe the best thing about a coloring app is that it's easy to erase your design, start over, and create something completely different.
Exercising your creativity on your phone is lightyears better for your mental health than scrolling social media.
3. These coloring books are also hilarious.
Photo and coloring skills by Clare Emily/Twitter.
Coloring isn't just about the beautifully elaborate sketches like those found in "Secret Garden" and its follow-up, " Enchanted Forest."
If you're more into some mindless fun, you might also enjoy coloring pictures of Ryan Gosling or iconic images from '90s pop culture!
And, if you're a real free spirit, you might enjoy a, um, truly "adult" coloring book.
(Just a suggestion: might not want to pull that one out in public.)
Coloring a humorous coloring book will boost your mood, and again, is a great alternative to mindless scrolling in the evening which has been proven to exacerbate symptoms like depression and anxiety. Try it before bed for a better night's sleep!
Whether you're coloring to relax or just to have some fun, there's a coloring book out there for you.
Coloring might just become your favorite hobby ... again.
Turns out, as a kid you had it right all along!
This article originally appeared a year ago.
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."