Singing is the ‘love drug’ to help you banish the blues
THE natural high in the human voice has inspired a scientific study – into how arts can tackle loneliness.
Biologists believe singing releases ‘feel-good’ hormones of the kind triggered by chocolate.
Now, a team from Salford University has investigated a singing group – Eccles Daytime Choir – to see what effect their hobby has on their physical and mental health.
Over a 12-week project, members of the group described how they enjoyed sharing the love of singing with others and making new friends, described how singing lifts their mood and had even improved their memory by helping them remember words and tunes. Of the group, 40 per cent said their physical and mental well-being had improved over the study period.
Dr Gary Kerr, a biologist at the University of Salford, said: “We know that half a million older people in the UK can go for a week at a time without leaving their house or speaking to anyone – and this figure shocked me. So investment in choirs is vital because it provides our elderly, our lonely, our socially isolated people with something to look forward to each week.
“Choir singing has also been shown to provide spiritual upliftment to people recently bereaved, suffering from cancer, or caring for people with cancer – investment in choirs here will obviously lead to improved mental health for such people.
“With Greater Manchester leading the way as a national pilot area for the benefits of the arts in health and well-being, I think we are just realising how beneficial the arts are to our health and well-being.”
Alison Peden, 56, joined the Eccles group in November to socialise and says the group has lifted her mood and improved her physical health.
She said: “It’s a very fun thing to do and it’s supposed to help your mood – it’s certainly helped with mine – and it’s something to do daughter or friends. “It’s really good to be able to do something with my friend.” Alison has a spinal cord tumour which means she is paraplegic and had to retire for medical reasons ten years ago. She takes part in the singing group to expand her lung capacity and make new friends. “Before I’d never done any kind of singing but being part of a community choir is really fun,” she added. Gwen, a retired toxicologist, has been singing as long as she can remember. “Generally if you are feeling a bit down or tired, particularly after work, if you make the effort to go out you usually find that when you get back you can relax a bit better”, she said, adding: “It’s quite interesting the effect singing has, I can actually get quite high from it. It’s actually quite surprising how much Choir member Gwen with my effort it takes to sing, you use your abdominal muscles quite a lot.
“As you get more involved you get more serious about it, and you notice your posture is better, you stand straight more because you need it to sing better so you get into the habit of it.”
The experiences of the Eccles singers are backed up by biology, according to Dr Kerr.
“Choir singing releases endorphins and these are the body’s feel-good hormone”, he told the M.E.N. “This hormone is released when we eat chocolate, laugh or perform exercise.
“Oxytocin, our ‘love-drug’ hormone, is also released during choir singing. This hormone increases our feelings of love and trust and makes us bond with people when the hormone is released.
“And the other hormone is cortisol, which is our stress hormone, and this hormone is significantly reduced in one session of choir singing.
“So in terms of hormones, we have more love-drugs and feelgood hormones mixed with a decrease in stress hormones – and ultimately this combination is good for our mental health.”