Chromotherapy: an Alternative Medical Treatment for Mental Health Problems

CHROMOTHERAPY: AN ALTERNATIVE MEDICAL TREATMENT FOR MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS

MARCH 2013

As the world changes, competitions grow larger and become more evident. Living in such competitive environment affects an individual’s health, particularly his/her mental wellness. Such mental health problems include depression, anxiety, self-harm, eating disorders, psychosis, and stress. Hence, many individuals succumb to use drugs or medical treatments to cure these problems. However, some drugs and medical treatments are not proven effective and safe while others are costly for continuous usage. Nonetheless, an alternative to such treatments, colors can be used for the therapy of these mental health problems.

This method of using colors in medical treatments is called chromotherapy or simply, color therapy. Chromotherapy is an old concept that uses the visible spectrum (colors) of electromagnetic radiation to promote holistic wellness in an individual (Azeemi & Raza, 2005). In this method, a therapist locates the source of a particular problem in one’s body caused by the lack of balance in an individual’s energy. He/She, then, uses the specific color, in the form of oils, papers, or crystals, to correct this imbalance in energy.

History of Chromotherapy

Unsurprisingly, the use of colors in curing health problems has already been practiced for centuries. In ancient Egypt, healing temples with rooms specifically designed to break the sun’s rays into visible spectrum were built to treat ill patients (Garala, Basu, Bhalodia, Mehta & Joshi, 2009). Early Greeks and Chinese practiced the use of colored crystals, salves, dyes and oils as remedies for diseases; whereas Indians associated the colors using the solar energy with one of the seven ‘energy’ centers or chakras, which was thought to be weak or imbalance, to cure different ailments (Azeemi & Raza, 2005; Sardroff, 1999).

Although this practice of using colors in healing has been around for years, it was not until 1878, when Dr. Edwin D. Babbit published his book Principles of Light and Color, that the interest in the effects of colors in therapies sparked. In his book, Dr. Babbit explained that the components, which composed every organism, are associated to colors and thus, they can be treated accordingly (Marberry, 1995, & Birren, 1950). He acknowledged that each color has specific effects on certain parts or organs of the body. He also developed various tools – the thermolume, a special cabinet in which colored lights were produced using colored glass and natural light, for instance – that help utilize colors in treating both physical and mental health problems such as chronic rheumatism, bronchial difficulties, sciatica, paralysis, nervous instability, headache and irritability (Azeemi & Raza, 2005).

Probably the most comprehensive and detailed work on chromotherapy, however, was done by Ghadiali. He explained in his book Spectro-Chrome Encyclopaedia that a natural biochemical response occurs when the energy is either tranquilized or roused to a particular organ using a specific color (Azeemi & Raza, 2005). This means that a particular color vibration affect the chemical actions of the body organ exposed to it. Therefore, the knowledge on the effects of colors to various organs will help to balance properly the disturbed energy, which causes the irregular performance of the impaired organ or the system affected by the imbalance of energy. Though filled with controversies, Ghadiali’s work continues to serve as inspiration to many color therapists today.

As the years went by, more color therapies have been utilized in medical treatments. An example of such is the use of blue light during the 1950s to treat neonatal jaundice in newborns. Through the use of blue light, the physical structure of the waste serum, bilirubin, changes in a way that the toxins become water soluble, so it is easily excreted (Fehrman, 2000). This treatment is considered as one of the first accepted medical treatments that use colors/light.

Rationale of Chromotherapy

For many years, these researchers have studied the effects of colors on an individual’s health. They have researched about how various colors can affect the functions of a system or an organ; how some can help cure diseases caused by the damaged parts of the body; and how some can improve the holistic wellness of the individuals. Although these researchers have not yet found specific effects of colors in certain physical illnesses, they have already suggested that colors can be used in treating persons with mental health problems, specifically problems affecting the emotions and moods of the individuals.

Colors produce electromagnetic energy that affects the biochemical and hormonal processes, which are the essential factors needed to balance the entire human body (Azeemi & Raza, 2005). When a particular color is stimulated to an organ, an immediate chemical reaction occurs causing the change in the organ’s performance. This further explains Ghadiali’s principle that the vibrations of colors are contributing factors that help maintain balance in an individual’s body. Hence, when a particular organ or system becomes impaired, color helps in regulating the chemical imbalance that occurs inside the affected body.

Additionally, according to Frank H. Mahnke (1993), the president of International Association of Color Consultant/Designers (IACC) and director of the IACC Education/ Accreditation Programs, color – as a form of energy – influence the functions of the brain, hormones, and nervous system; and stimulate emotional and aesthetic relations. These changes in brain activity occur as colors are channeled to the body both directly and indirectly. As the colors enter the eye, they directly affect the hypothalamus, the part of the brain responsible for emotions, and indirectly affects, through the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland, which controls the hormone levels and moods of the individual (Fehrman, 2000). This also explains the reason why many experts believed that colors have direct influence to a person’s thoughts, moods and behaviors, and that they are distinctively separated from psychological and cultural factors.

On the other hand, a research conducted by Semyon Kirlian, a Russian electrician who first used the technique of corona discharge photography on living organisms, explained that the human body radiates specific color when it is damaged or when it is healthy (Marberry, 1995). This discovery further emphasized the Indian concept that the body is divided into seven ‘energy’ centers or chakras and that, each of these chakras corresponds to a specific color in the spectrum of light (Azeemi & Raza, 2005). When one of these chakras is disturbed, the body experiences an imbalance in its energy, causing implications in the entire individual. Hence, the particular color that pairs up with the weakened chakra is used to balance the energy distribution inside the body.

Consequently, these functions of colors become the basis of medical practitioners to use chromotherapy in treatments of health problems. They channel the colors using tools such as colored crystals, oils, papers, light, and water to the impaired part of an individual’s body; therefore, stopping the cause of improper functioning of the damaged organ or system and keeping the energy balance in the entire human body. The same thing happens to a person suffering from mental health problems. Because of the improper functioning of the brain or nervous system, an irregularity in production of hormones occurs. Thus, a person experiences a mental problem that causes a change in his/her moods and behaviors. Through chromotherapy, the medical practitioner use the specific color that can affect the source of malfunction, which in turn will help balance again the production of hormones that controls the person’s moods and behaviors.

Use of Chromotherapy in Medical Treatments

Considering such functions of colors, it is clear that color therapy can be used to treat the mental health problems of individuals. In fact, studies have already been conducted about the use of color therapy in altering moods and behaviors.

In a 1982 article of The New York Times, violent juveniles under detention at the San Bernardino County Probation Department in California were put inside a bubblegum-pink-painted room (Gruson, 1982). As observed by the director of the clinical services of the department, these children stopped yelling and banging, became relaxed, and fell asleep within ten minutes. He, then, speculated that the pink room helped in giving satisfactory behavior to these children. This speculation was proven true by some researchers for they explained that individual colors cause changes in the respiration rates, blood pressure, along with biorhythms and brain activity (Wright, 2012). Hence, when these kids were locked inside the room, they felt a soothing sensation caused by the pink paint covering the walls of the room.

Colors have also found to have increased influence in neurotic and psychotic disorders. A recognized authority in the field of psychoneurology, Kurt Goldstein conducted an experiment involving a woman with cerebellar disease who walks unsteadily and often falls unexpectedly. He found out that when the subject wore a red dress, these symptoms were more evident. On the other hand, when the subject wore green and blue clothing, the symptoms are less pronounced and her equilibrium were restored almost to normal (Birren, 1982). This shows that colors also influence a person’s sense of equilibrium.

A notable study conducted with regards the use of color in treating mental health problems is the use of white light for patients with seasonal affective disorders (SAD). In 2001, 57 SAD patients were randomly exposed to either white light or dim red light therapy in four weeks (Silva, 2013). The study had shown that the symptoms caused by SAD had been reduced more when patients were exposed to white light than when they were exposed to dim red light (McManis, 2012, & Withrow, 2004).

Criticisms against Chromotherapy

Although there have been many studies conducted in the efficiency of chromotherapy in helping patients with mental health problems, there are still some criticisms against the said concept.

Some researchers claimed that the emotional states of individuals affect their response to colors. According to Birren (1980, as cited in Withrow, 2004), emotionally well-adjusted individuals respond to color more openly than those who are emotionally inhibited. When individuals suffer from depression, for example, they tend to put less color in their artworks. Moreover, individuals who are heavily traumatized by past experiences such as those victims of natural calamities, use more dark colors in their works. They become more inclined to react to colors that shows their feelings and emotions brought to them by their past experiences.

Furthermore, some researchers have argued that different cultures assign different associations with colors (Color therapy, 2013). For instance, a tradition of the Christian religion is that brides should wear white during wedding ceremonies to signify purity. However, in Japan, the bride wears white as a symbol of death to her family; while in India, the brides wear red to imply the awakening of their sexuality (Garala et al., 2009). These differences in associations of colors affect the way people perceived the meanings of colors, which, in turn, becomes a factor why many researchers asserted that these color interpretations are affected by a person’s experiences and preferences in colors (Color therapy, 2013).

According to Felix Deutsch (as cited in Birren, 1978), the effects of colors are indistinct and subjective, depending on the way the individual perceives the color. An individual, for example, may feel soothing effect when he sees the color red, while another may feel anger when he sees this color. Fehrman (2000) further explained that “our changing moods and emotions caused by our physiological and psychological makeup at the moment interact with color to create preferences and associations that we then link to the color-emotion response itself” (p.83). Hence, moods expressed by colors are rather diverse.

Though color associations to moods may rather be difficult to understand for the reason that human emotions are unstable and the psychic make-up of individuals differ from one to another, there are still several general or universal reactions to colors, which seemed to be evident in most persons (Birren, 1950). These include red as active, fervid, and exciting; blue as melancholy and sober; green as quieting and refreshing; yellow as cheerful, vital and celestial; white as pure, clean and frank; and black as ominous, depressing and deadly.

Additionally, some studies have shown significant agreement in the associations found between colors and names of moods (Burnham, 1963). For example, yellow is associated to “playful”, red is associated to “passionate”, and violet is associated to “soulful”. To further understand the associations of moods to colors, Birren (1982) explained that “the colors of the spectrum are to be associated with two moods: the warm, active, and exciting qualities of red and its analogous hues; and the cool, passive, and calming qualities of blue, violet and green” (p.141). Hence, warm colors like red and orange excites an individual, while cool colors like blue and green produces a soothing effect. This generalization in color meanings help have a synchronized way of perceive the colors and their effects to the people.

While these arguments claimed by some researchers may have proven a point that colors provide different meanings and effects from one person to another, it does not change the fact that colors influence the emotional states of the individuals. Through the different electromagnetic impulses produced by each color, the brain activity and hormone levels of individuals are altered thus, changes in moods and emotions arise, which contribute to the healing of the person. Even Birren (1978) stated that “color is not a cure, but it serves a purpose in helping to inspire an agreeable mood in human beings – always essential in the best of medical care” (p.44). Clearly, the colors found in an individual contribute to his/her holistic wellness, particularly his/her mental health. Hence, color therapy or chromotherapy is a helpful alternative to drugs and medical treatments to use for patients with mental health problems.