Month: July 2022

One hour of this type of singing can improve mood, immune function and more…

Singing in a choir for only one hour can improve mood, reduce stress and even boost immune proteins, a study finds.

The largest improvements in mood were seen among those suffering with the greatest level of depression and lowest mental wellbeing.

The research involved 193 people whose lives had been touched by cancer and who were members of five different choirs.

Dr Ian Lewis, one of the study’s authors, said:

“These are really exciting findings.

We have been building a body of evidence over the past six years to show that singing in a choir can have a range of social, emotional and psychological benefits, and now we can see it has biological effects too.

We’ve long heard anecdotal evidence that singing in a choir makes people feel good, but this is the first time it’s been demonstrated that the immune system can be affected by singing.

It’s really exciting and could enhance the way we support people with cancer in the future.”

Dr Daisy Fancourt, the study’s first author, said:

“Many people affected by cancer can experience psychological difficulties such as stress, anxiety and depression.

Research has demonstrated that these can suppress immune activity, at a time when patients need as much support as they can get from their immune system.

This research is exciting as it suggests that an activity as simple as singing could reduce some of this stress-induced suppression, helping to improve wellbeing and quality of life amongst patients and put them in the best position to receive treatment.”

Diane Raybould, 64, who was diagnosed with breast cancer and has been singing in a choir since 2010, said:

“Singing in the choir is about more than just enjoyment, it genuinely makes you feel better.

The choir leaders play a huge part of course, but so does the support of the other choir members, the inspirational programme and uplifting songs.

The choir is a family, simple as that.

Having cancer and losing someone to cancer can be very isolating.

With the choir, you can share experiences openly and that is hugely important.”

The study was published in the journal eCancer Medicalscience (Fancourt et al., 2016).

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People with this trait find it easier to lose weight.

Being pessimistic and self-aware is linked to greater weight loss, research finds.

People who prefer to look at the facts and to consider alternatives do better when they try to lose weight.

In contrast, those who approach weight loss with childish optimism are doomed to fail.

The conclusion comes from a study of 101 obese people who were given combined counselling, nutrition and exercise therapy.

The results showed that people who were optimistic at the start of the six month trial found it harder to lose weight.

However, people who successfully lost weight did become more optimistic as time went on, even if they started out pessimistic.

A second key to weight loss is self-awareness.

It is important to be aware of what triggers eating and to be gathering information about what changes are working and what are not.

The authors write:

“It is important to enhance patients’ self-effectiveness and self-control in order to reduce psychological stress and to maintain the weight loss.

The weight loss should be attributed not simply to the intervention of the clinical psychologists but to the total effect of the intervention of a holistic medical care team.”

The study was published in the journal BioPsychoSocial Medicine (Saito et al., 2009).

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A 12-minute exercise that boosts happiness and empathy while reducing anxiety.

Wishing happiness for others, and really meaning it, makes people feel happier themselves, research finds.

Instead of focusing inwards, sending loving-kindness outwards can work magic.

People who did this for just 12 minutes felt happier than those who concentrated on how they were better off than others.

It also reduced anxiety and boosted empathy.

Professor Douglas Gentile, the study’s first author, said:

“Walking around and offering kindness to others in the world reduces anxiety and increases happiness and feelings of social connection.

It’s a simple strategy that doesn’t take a lot of time that you can incorporate into your daily activities.”

For the study, young people were split into three different groups and each tried a different strategy for feeling happier:

• Loving-kindness: looking at others and sincerely wishing them happiness.
• Interconnectedness: considering people’s connections to each other.
• Comparing oneself favourably to others: thinking about how one is better off than other people.

All were compared to a control group.

The results showed that people who practiced loving-kindness felt happier themselves, were less anxious and more caring and empathetic.

In contrast, those who compared themselves to others felt less caring, connected and empathetic.

Dr Dawn Sweet, study co-author, explained:

“At its core, downward social comparison is a competitive strategy.

That’s not to say it can’t have some benefit, but competitive mindsets have been linked to stress, anxiety and depression.”

Loving-kindness is effective, whatever your personality type, Lanmiao He, study co-author, said:

“This simple practice is valuable regardless of your personality type.

Extending loving-kindness to others worked equally well to reduce anxiety, increase happiness, empathy and feelings of social connection.”

Social media tends to encourage social comparisons, said Professor Gentile:

“It is almost impossible not to make comparisons on social media.

Our study didn’t test this, but we often feel envy, jealousy, anger or disappointment in response to what we see on social media, and those emotions disrupt our sense of well-being.”

The study was published in the Journal of Happiness Studies (Gentile et al., 2019).

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