This week is Mental Health Awareness Week.
Established by the Mental Health Foundation, this year's theme is Anxiety; "Focusing on anxiety for this year's Mental Health Awareness Week will increase people's awareness and understanding of anxiety by providing information on the things that can help prevent it from becoming a problem. At the same time, we will keep up the pressure to demand change - making sure that improving mental health is a key priority for the government and society as a whole."
"Singing involves focused concentration, which blocks preoccupation with sources of worry. Singing is therefore a source of distraction from ongoing concerns, and participants commonly referred to being able to forget any troubles they had, at least for a short time, while singing." (Clift et al,. 2010)
To learn more, please visit mentalhealth.org.uk
Clift, S., Hancox, G., Morrison, I., Hess, B., Kreutz, G. and Stewart, D., 2010. Choral singing and psychological wellbeing: Quantitative and qualitative findings from English choirs in a cross-national survey. Journal of Applied Arts & Health, 1(1), pp.19-34.
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