A growing body of research indicates that music can be a form of therapy — especially singing with others — to improve your mental health.
But it’s OK if you are not the next “American Idol.”
Music therapy addresses symptoms across a wide range of illnesses, including chronic pain, anxiety disorders, cancer and lung diseases like asthma, COPD and COVID-19, said Joanne V. Loewy, director of The Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.
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The idea sprouted from a resoundingly positive response from a team-building exercise that organized a staff choir.
The group decided to set up a singing choir for those fighting cancer; it would be a research study to evaluate the benefits of singing. After receiving positive results in the study, they applied for funding to create more choirs in 2011.
Research explored how singing in a choir can improve well-being over time.
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They sing a wide range of contemporary music, including hit songs from iconic musicians like Queen, Elvis, Rihanna, The Beach Boys and Adele, the website added.
Singing improves quality of life
Early research discovered that singing in choirs increased quality of life and reduced depression and anxiety.
They also found that singing really aided those who had low levels of well-being at the start of the study — a group the researchers thought needed the most help.
“I’ve headed home feeling rejuvenated, strengthened and empowered to face life.”
Singing is empowering
“Many times, I’ve shown up for a rehearsal, physically and emotionally drained, stressed and overwhelmed,” a member of The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, told Fox News Digital.
“Then, 2½ hours later I’ve headed home feeling rejuvenated, strengthened and empowered to face life.”
While music brings people together, it is also a form of therapy, according to health professionals. (iStock)
The Grammy Award-winning and Emmy-winning Tabernacle Choir is known around the world for its unique sound, including its many memorable performances such as the opening ceremony of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games that billions watched globally.
‘Untapped resource’
While music brings people together, it is also a form of therapy.
“Music is a largely untapped resource, which can have powerful, positive effects on struggling patients,” Dr. Martin Rubin told Fox News Digital.
He’s the course director of a popular wellness elective for medical students in Elk Grove, California, which includes the appearance of special guest lecturers who share their unique perspective on what they do outside of medicine to stay healthy.
It was previously thought that music was processed only in the “right” part of our brain along with other creative processes such as art — but recent research has shown that music can be distributed throughout the brain.
Mitchell inspires students to appreciate the power of music with a famous quote from Plato.
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