Music, something that a lot of people nowadays really enjoy listening to any time of day. Whether you’re listening to your favorite artist on Spotify, a lot of people have various ways and reasons they listen to music and part of that is the effects of mental health. Though the question is, can the impacts be positive or negative?
The Pros
Music can have many many benefits to mental health. Listening to music can reduce anxiety, blood pressure, and pain as well as improve sleep quality, etcetera. Sleep quality is a major one considering that there are various types of music that can help you fall asleep quicker and more peacefully at night. These types of music can include nature sounds, white noise, classical music, instrumental sleep music, and much more. Gemma Nelson, an 8th grader here at Rio Norte was willing to share her input on how music helps her and impacts her mental health. She stated, “Yes. It helps me focus when working and it helps me calm down in situations that make me uncomfortable or nervous. Music also really helps me focus and block out all other distractions around me when doing my schoolwork.”
Music has a unique power to affect the way people feel and many people use music to improve or change their mood. Mrs. Burns, one of the counselors here at Rio Norte says that “I think music affects people in many different ways. I would say that music provides joy to most people whether they need it for enjoyment, to decompress, to soothe, or to escape.” As a counselor, Mrs. Burns has worked with students regarding how music helps them and keeps them motivated. With that, she adds, “I have worked with many students that needed to stay focused, so we would allow them to play music while working independently. When I was a teacher, I would have classical or instrumental music playing when the kids walked in from recess or lunch and it instantly calmed them down. My experience with music and students has been very positive and there are many benefits to using music as a tool for happiness.” Music does have a lot of benefits when it comes to mental health and allows people to escape reality into their own world, but is music all that beneficial?
The Cons
Depending on the type of music you listen to, it comes with an impact on your overall mental health. While music can have various benefits to our mental health, there are negative effects as well. The general and overall negative effects of music can depend on the content of certain songs, certain lyrics, or certain genres of music all together. Content within these negative music genres can include or encourage violence, discrimination, and sad music.
These types of music can spark rumination, [repetitive thinking or dwelling on negative feelings and distress and their causes and consequences] which can contribute to the increase of depression and/or anxiety when listening to such types of music. Furthermore, research shows that when people listen to sad music that can even evoke a certain memory, it can make us feel sad.
Depending on the type of music that you listen to, always reflect and maybe ask yourself “Does this type of music really improve my mental health?” Maybe even reflecting on the type of music you listen to. How is it really affecting you mentally and/or physically?