How music can help -because it REALLY can- and why.
Naturally, when I found this out, I was over the moon because I did this anyways. But does the type of music you listen to affect your mental state? Why does music help? We'll go through all of that information in this post, so crack open that Spotify tab and start up those tunes.
There was a Ted Talk done by singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Lucia Clohessy where she talked about music's effects on the brain through research and data from fMRI scans. It's linked below - I know it's quite lengthy compared to the usual Ted-Ed talks I link, but it's truly worth watching because it's so informational and will most definitely benefit you.
TW: There are some touchy subjects covered such as panic attacks, mental illnesses, anxiety, and depression.
If you were put off watching the video by the trigger warning, I'll cover the information here.
We listen to music to get pumped up about something, to find personal peace, to sympathize, and allow our emotions an outlet. It makes sense that music therapy would help us to heal and thrive in the most difficult times of our lives. Lucia focuses on how music today and throughout history helps mental wellness. Think about the number of times that you've changed a song in your playlist because it didn't fit your mood back then. Or when you've searched up a Spotify playlist that vocalized what you were feeling. That just shows how music can impact how we feel.
*This is a direct quotation from the talk* 'If you look at the brain on a functional magnetic resonance imaging machine or fMRI for short you will see multiple areas light up when a person is listening to music. But it wasn't just any music chosen during this study; it was familiar music chosen on purpose. Music that relates to a person's experience, music that makes them feel something significant. Neurons, which are brain cells that send messages, become activated. During this process, areas involving attention, memory, movement, coordination, emotion, all become affected when exposed to what we call our preferred music; these chemical conversations and the associations made by the mind or what engages our complex network because of its ability to tap into our emotions.'
A couple of months ago, my mental health was down in the dumps. It also happened to be that I was on a phone ban during this time, which meant no music. After convincing my parents to let me have my phone back, I started meditating, I deleted social media, but most importantly I listened to music again. Like Maya Angelou said, "Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness." And yeah, I get that it's kind of cheesy to use a quote but it applies here. Listening to music helped, not just me, but my friends, my peers, and my family. Through My Chemical Romance, Lewis Capaldi, Sam Smith, The Beatles, and The Strokes -and so many other songs and bands- I was improved; I was healing and through more exposure, all of those problems have been neutralized. But enough about me, let's get into the science of it. *whoo hoo!*
Here are some benefits that music has on your physical and mental health, from our trusty friend: Headspace.
Here are some more benefits to music -but if you think I'm going to list reasons why music is bad, get that thought out of your brain right now.
people dance or sing to different music and both of these activities release endorphins such as dopamine and serotonin.
increases motivation
improves memory
improves focus
reduces stress
helps relaxation
reduces anxiety and depression
What emotions do different genres of music influence?
Here's how different genres of music affect us:
Soothing music like jazz can help de-stress.
Upbeat music releases endorphins like serotonin and dopamine.
Pop music boosts energy and helps us exercise better.
Rhythmic drumming helps with meditation.
Classical music helps with memory recall.
Metal is good for our sense of self.
Rap music can help fight depression.
Country music evokes feelings of internal joy.
And here are some studies that talk about the psychology behind some more of these emotional influxes and how they affect our minds.
So go put your records on, tell me your favorite song; See you next time
-thestudentsblogger
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