The Power of Music on Your Mental Health
Music has been widely studied and revered throughout human history for its ability to both entertain and heal. Experts have investigated how listening to music can potentially have therapeutic effects on a range of mental and physical health conditions, or just as a way to cope with everyday life.
The fact that music evokes emotion is obvious. And not only does it make us feel happy, sad, or want to get up and dance, but certain melodies are embedded in our memories.
Sometimes when you don’t have the words to explain or express what you are going through, or if you don’t feel comfortable talking about it, song lyrics can give you another way to express your feelings.
Music has significant power to help reduce stress and anxiety, relieve pain, and improve focus among many more benefits.
Benefits that music has on mental health:
Reduces stress and depression symptoms
Classical and meditation music offers a wide range of benefits for those who are experiencing depression or stress symptoms. Listening to music when you are depressed, or stress can lower blood pressure, decrease stress hormones, and act as a distraction to negative emotions.
Improves Cognitive Performance
Research suggests that background music, or songs that played while the listener focus on another activity, can improve performance on cognitive tasks in older adults. Consider choosing instrumental tracks rather than those with complex lyrics, which might end up being more distracting.
Helps You Sleep Better
Insomnia is a serious problem that affects people of all age groups. While there are many approaches to treating this problem, research has demonstrated that listening to relaxing classical songs can be a safe, effective, and affordable remedy.
Builds community
Making music—through singing or playing an instrument in school, in a band, or with friends—can connect you with a community of people who share a common interest. And even if you don’t play or sing, you can also find people who share your love for a particular band or type of music. Feeling a sense of belonging to something larger than yourself is a proven way to improve mental health.
Improves memory
Certain songs have the ability to remind us of certain periods or events in our lives – some that make us smile, and some we would rather forget. With this in mind, researchers are increasingly investigating whether music may aid memory recall.
Music is a quick mood booster
This is probably one of those things you don’t need research to prove, but scientific research has found that listening to upbeat music with an intention of getting in a better mood actually works. Of course, this is something you can also research yourself on the daily.
