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Choir singing 'boosts your mental health'

There is a growing body of evidence which claims that singing as part of a group can have a range of health benefits

Shows including Gareth Malone's The Choir: Sing While You Work have helped boost the popularity of group singing Photo: BBC

By Hayley Dixon

10:35PM GMT 04 Dec 2013

9 Comments

Singing in a choir can boost your mental health, a new study has found.

Researchers carried out an online survey of 375 people who sang in choirs, sang alone, or played team sports.

All three activities yielded high levels of psychological well-being - but choristers stood out as experiencing the greatest benefit.

The findings could help develop low cost treatment to improve people’s well-being, researchers suggest.

Compared with the way sports players regarded their teams, choral singers also viewed their choirs as more coherent or "meaningful". To continue reading, click here. 

Rate My Hospital Dementia epidemic looms by 2050

London G8 summit to focus attention on global problem increasingly impacting developing countries

Thomson Reuters Posted: Dec 05, 2013 1:49 PM ET Last Updated: Dec 05, 2013 1:49 PM ET

Many governments are woefully unprepared for an epidemic of dementia currently affecting 44 million people worldwide and set to more than triple to 135 million people by 2050, health experts and campaigners said on Thursday.

Fresh estimates from the advocacy group Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI) showed a 17 per cent increase in the number of people with the incurable mind-robbing condition compared with 2010, and warned that by 2050 more than 70 per cent of people with dementia will be living in poorer countries.

Passers-by in Belgium were asked to write positive messages and stick it on the columns to raise awareness of dementia in 2012. By 2050 more than 70 per cent of people with dementia will be living in poorer countries, Alzheimer's Disease International estimates. (Sebastien Pirlet/Reuters)

"It's a global epidemic and it is only getting worse," said ADI's executive director Marc Wortmann.

"If we look into the future the numbers of elderly people will rise dramatically. It's vital that the World Health Organization makes dementia a priority, so the world is ready to face this condition."

Alzheimer's, the most common form of dementia, is a fatal brain disease that has no cure and few effective treatments.

Like other forms of the disorder, it affects patients' memory, thinking and behaviour and is an increasingly overwhelming burden on societies and economies. While there are a few drugs that can ease some symptoms in some people, there is no cure.

Even now, the global cost of dementia care is more than $600 billion, or around 1.0 per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP), and that will only increase, the ADI says.

In a policy report published along with the new data, Martin Prince, a professor at King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry, said "most governments are woefully unprepared for the dementia epidemic." His report said only 13 countries have national dementia plans.

"This is a global problem that is increasingly impacting on developing countries with limited resources and little time to develop comprehensive systems of social protection, health and social care," Prince said in a statement. Click here to keep reading. 

What Is Depression? Let This Animation With A Dog Shed Light On It.

Rossalyn Warren

When others seem to be enjoying life, the black dog stands in the way for a lot of people. If you're wondering WTF I'm talking about, watch the video. And if you recognize any of this, maybe it's time to think about taking some steps to look after yourself. Click here to continue reading. 

5 tips for tracking missing persons with dementia

Search and rescue expert says dementia patients are hard to find, but there are some patterns

CBC News Posted: Dec 11, 2013 5:25 PM PT Last Updated: Dec 11, 2013 5:25 PM PT

Concern over the safety of seniors with dementia is growing, following the death of a 76-year-old woman in a North Vancouver park after she wandered away from her care facility.

Dementia patient Joan Warren was not wearing her electronic tracking bracelet when she went missing on Friday and family, friends, firefighters, police and volunteers all joined North Shore Search and Rescue in a huge search operation.

Despite an extensive search effort, Joan Warren, who was 76 and suffered from dementia, was found dead near Lynn Canyon two days after she went missing. (Family photo)

Warren's body was found two days later, off trail, near Lynn Canyon suspension bridge. She had died of hypothermia.

Warren's family say searchers did their best, but could she have been found sooner?

Robert J. Koester, a U.S. search and rescue expert based in Virginia, who spoke with Stephen Quinn on CBC Radio One's On The Coast, says dementia patients are the hardest subjects to find, and time is of the essence.

"The sooner you can get more eyes involved, the better. The more urban the area, the better the chance that somebody other than search and rescue is going to make the find," he said.

In a database he keeps, he's found that 22 per cent of cases of missing persons with dementia end with the patient found dead — a rate that is far too high — but Koester says he's identified patterns that can help searchers track what often seems like counter-intuitive behaviour.

Here are five search tips he shared with CBC Radio's On The Coast:Click here to read on. 

'My Son is Mentally Ill' So listen up

By Wayne Drash
Video and photography by Evelio Contreras

He is 14 and hears voices. He's been hospitalized more than 20 times. Stephanie Escamilla is tired of seeing the country focus on the mentally ill only when there's a national tragedy. So she and her son are telling their story — of a family on the brink.

San Antonio, Texas (CNN)

To continue reading, click here. 

If physical diseases were treated like mental illness

For the website, click here.