Colour and the mind
Chromotherapy
The practice of treating illness with coloured light or coloured surroundings. There is no good evidence that it works.
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Chromotherapy, or colour therapy, claims that particular colours of light can heal particular diseases or rebalance the body. It has been tested and there is no reliable evidence that it treats any illness. It should not be confused with medical light treatments that do work, such as blue light for jaundice in newborn babies, which act through known chemistry and not through the meaning of a colour.
Where it comes from
Ideas linking colour and health are old and widespread. The modern version took shape in the United States in the 1870s, when a retired general, Augustus Pleasonton, claimed that sunlight through blue glass cured disease and made crops thrive, setting off a brief craze. Edwin Babbitt followed with a book assigning healing powers to each colour. In the 1920s Dinshah Ghadiali, born in Bombay and settled in America, sold a coloured lamp device called the Spectro-Chrome. United States courts later ruled against him for making false medical claims.
What the evidence says
Practitioners today may shine coloured lamps on the body, suggest coloured clothes or rooms, or link colours to the chakras, the energy centres of yogic tradition. The specific claims, such as red for circulation or green for infection, have no plausible mechanism and no support from controlled trials. Reviews by medical bodies class chromotherapy as unproven. A calm, softly lit room may well help a person relax, and that is pleasant. It is not treatment, and the real danger arises when someone delays proper care for a serious illness.
Light treatments that do work
Some medical uses of light are well established, and they are a different thing. Blue light breaks down bilirubin, the yellow substance that builds up in the skin of jaundiced newborns, and is standard hospital care across the world. Bright white light in the morning is used for winter depression. Narrow bands of ultraviolet light treat psoriasis and other skin conditions. Lasers and light-activated drugs are used in surgery and cancer care. In each case the wavelength is chosen for a measured physical or chemical effect, confirmed in clinical trials.
Sources and further reading
- Chromotherapy on Wikipedia
- NHS: Newborn jaundice, treatment
- NHS: Seasonal affective disorder, treatment
- BBC Future: Do colours really warp our behaviour?
Original text by the Rang desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Meanings of colour vary from place to place and person to person. If we have something wrong, tell us.