Members of the public are being encouraged to sign up to sing in a choir, with national mental health charity, Turn2Me stating this week that it can have mental health benefits.
The charity listed the many benefits of being in a choir including a strengthened feeling of community, a reduction in stress levels and an improved feeling of social wellbeing.
The charity referenced a study titled ‘It’s better together: The psychological benefits of singing in a choir’ by Nick Stewart and Adam Lonsdale, which compared ‘choral singing to two other relevant leisure activities, solo singing and playing a team sport, using measures of self-reported well-being, entitativity, need fulfilment and motivation.
Questionnaire data from 375 participants indicated that choral singers and team sport players reported significantly higher psychological well-being than solo singers. Choral singers also reported that they considered their choirs to be a more coherent or ‘meaningful’ social group than team sport players considered their teams.’
“Joining a choir can bring a feeling of inclusiveness, collegiality and pride after performing,” Fiona O’Malley, CEO of Turn2Me, said, “It is also a great opportunity to meet new people and make new friends. Many people struggle making new friends when they finish secondary school or college, because these are environments where we’re forced to spend time with people in our classes, and friendships grow organically. When these social structures are taken away, people can struggle to make new friends.”
