Psychologists have known for many years that colour can affect how people feel. For this reason, attention should be given to colour schemes when decorating places such as offices and hospitals. How true is this statement? How far does colour influence people’s health and capacity for work?

It is well known by the psychologists that surrounding colours can influence person's emotions and state of mind. In fact, the effect of colours should be taken into consideration when decorating environment depending on its purpose. It appears to me that this statement is completely true and certain colours are proven to benefit patients recovery in the hospital as well as increase motivation and work efficiency in office. Colours are often associated with people's emotions, it can also affect person's physical and mental state. Moreover, colour psychology studies impact on human's emotions and use of colours as a therapy. For example, an experiment done by Professor Helen Epps from The University of Georgia provides an obvious difference in response to different colours. Evidently, exposure to green had a peaceful and calming effect on a person, whereas exposure to red colour triggered anger. Influence of colours on people's health and capacity for work should be considered when decorating different spaces. In everyday life it can be noticed that hospitals are usually decorated with green or blue, the walls in the offices are white or bright colours, while restaurants are very often in warm colours such as yellow and orange as it's supposed to increase costumer's appetite. For example, cool colours such as green and blue are perfect choice for hospitals, according to well known psychologist Amanda H. Larkin, green and blue are considered to be restful and to decrease respiration and blood pressure. In addition, white is also considered to increase work efficiency, whereas dark colours in the office environment might cause lack of motivation at work. In conclusion, as it is proven by many researches, colours can be used to manipulate person's emotions, it is imperative to choose the colour of the surroundings wisely as it has major impact on capacity for work and patient's physical and psychological state.