Scribbling Intervention for Depression, Anxiety and Stress

Depression, anxiety and stress are disorders with significant impact on quality of life and preventable death. The pervasiveness of these problems and their diversity requires that interventions be matched to the personality of the subject and to their context. There is a need for tools that are easy to use, accessible, and affordable. In this study we evaluate a scribbling intervention motivated by theories in art therapy. Many art therapy based interventions are not evidence based as quantitative studies are rarely performed. We use a crowdsourcing platform to recruit subjects and provide evidence for the efficacy of an art based intervention. Our results show that a short time spent scribbling can have a significant effect reducing depression, anxiety and stress, at least in the short term. It could be used as a practical soothing technique.