Choir singing can boost your mental health
- 11 Dec
Researchers have found that singing in a choir can help boost your mental health.
375 people took part in an online survey and results revealed that people out of people who sang in a choir, sang alone or played team sports; singing in a choir had the highest impact on positive mental health.
Choral singers said that they viewed their choirs as "meaningful" reports the Telegraph.
Nick Stewart, from Oxford Brookes University, who led the study, said: "Research has already suggested that joining a choir could be a cost-effective way to improve people's well-being. Yet we know surprisingly little about how the well-being effects of choral singing are brought about. These findings suggest that feeling part of a cohesive social group can add to the experience of using your voice to make music."
Previous studies have also revealed that joining a choir can improve symptoms of Parkinson's, depression and lung disease. Research suggests that this is due to the increase in oxygen levels in the blood and releases "happy" hormones.
The fact singing in a choir improves mental health more than team sports could be due to the fact that singing in a choir is a more synchronous activity.
"The implications may be that any activity we do as part of a group is particularly enjoyable", he said."But people who sang in a choir had a stronger sense of being part of a meaningful group and there is a suggestion that there is something unique about the synchronicity of moving and breathing with other people."
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