Me and us: Cultivating presence and mental health through choir singing.
Janne Brammer Damsgaard, Svend Brinkmann
PMID 35338510WHAT IT FOUND
Eight people involved in a mental health choir, including service users, relatives and professionals, described singing as helping them feel hard-to-express emotions, connect with others, and be themselves.
It is a participant experience, not proof the choir improves mental health.
Key findings
01Participants described choir singing as helping them get in touch with and express emotions that were otherwise difficult to feel or talk about.
02Singing together was described as creating connection with self, other choir members, and the group, and as a relief that allowed feelings to be shown without direct speech.
03Singers and professionals described singing as making people more open to one another and aware of solidarity within the choir.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
Only eight people were interviewed, and they were already involved in the choir, so their views may not represent people who drop out or never join. The study asked about experiences and did not measure symptoms, functioning, or change over time. Some participants were professionals and one was a relative, so the findings are not only from mental health service users. Recruitment was through the project leader and choir leader, which may have shaped who was included. The authors suggest that future studies could include participant observations of group dynamics, which were not done here.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest. The choir activity studied was created and founded by a private mental health organisation and a private choir school.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the positive experiences as proof that choir singing improves mental health. This study interviewed eight people already involved in a choir and reported how they described singing; it did not measure symptoms, function, or change over time.