today we will be sharing with you
5 interesting ways that music can affects
anxiety and depression based on a article
from issue 3 of Psych2Go magazines.
when someone is diagnosed with a mental illness,
there are many forms of treatment they can choose from.
they may take medication or go to counselling or therapy.
some may also find that music helps them.
research has shown that music can have a strong effect on us.
it can alleviate anxiety and depression, increase spatial awareness
and enhance mood.
interestingly, the genres of music
can be important as well
researchers from the University of Utah,
pain research center, have found that listening to music
helps to reduce pain in those
who were highly anxious.
143 participants listening to music while receiving electric shocks
it seems therefore that music is good in helping with pain
by activating sensory pathways to compete with the pain pathways.
another study looking at anxiety and music
was conducted by David Elliots and his colleagues.
they wanted to determine what characteristics of music actually help lower anxiety.
the study had 84 people participants
and it was found that harmonious sounds were the most relaxing.
they even led to a decrease in cortisol.
however, it was also found that listen to fast-paced music increased anxiety.
and so it would seem that the tempo and type of music is very important.
another way music can affect anxiety is
through the process of writing it.
writing down can help alleviate the anxiety around them.
it may also be easier to talk about feelings through lyrics and songs
than in other ways.
also, reading lyrics that mean a lot to you
can help you feel better if you can analyze why those lyrics mean a lot to you.
so we've seen how music can affect anxiety
but does it also have an affect on depression?
listening to music can change your mood
so it's probably not surprising it can influence people with depression.
Jun Cellini states that music helps you to express emotions
and can help encourage you to let go of suppressed ones.
positive upbeat music can help lift your mood
while slow and sad music may increases your depression.
also listening to music associated with bad memories
may make your symptoms worse.
this depends on the individual of course.
sometimes listening to sad lyrics can help an individual feels better
as they may feel less alone.
like with anxiety, writing music can also have an effect on depression.
writing down your feelings can be very helpful in fighting depression.
so writing poems or lyrics about your feelings can help reducing depressive symptoms.
writing out the feelings can be a form of release
and has been known to prevent suicide and self-harm.
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