According To Research Music Is Beneficial To Our Health

Photo by Mark Solarski on Unsplash

I’m sure every teenager has had the argument with their parents over music and how it’s bad for your health. Well, according to research it’s actually good for you with many health benefits. So next time someone tries to have a go at you for listening to too much music, you’re actually helping yourself. Here’s how it’s apparently good for you:

1. Calms anxiety and stress. If when you are feeling stressed you play softer and more soothing music your mind will automatically feel more calm which in return calms your emotions down as you will start to feel mellower and relaxed. This is because your brain releases biochemical stress reducers and also based on the fact that when music is played you tend to concentrate on what it is you are listening to. If it’s a song you know well you’ll automatically sing along and forget whatever it is you are stressing about. I know this works for me as whenever I feel the slightest bit stressed I will listen to my ‘Relax’ playlist.
2. It helps you sleep at night. I often find that the nights I can’t sleep the most is when I have to be up early the next day. When this does happen I tend to listen to quiet music to help me slowly drift off to sleep. This also works for people who can’t sleep unless they have some sort of background noise. Ultimately this links with the first point as in order to sleep you need to be calmed and relaxed.
3. It can sometimes make you feel less depressed. Whenever I am feeling sad and unresponsive I tend to walk around my house with headphones in listening to music that I know will change my mood. Although this does vary between happy and sad music, but it works. Whether it is my favourite band, Disney music or old 80’s songs. It’s said that music helps people with depression freely express themselves, especially through music therapy. By listening to music while occupying your mind can help you as it puts your mind at ease. Many people would prefer this type of therapy as it’s not drug related.
4. Music trains your brain. Learning to play a musical instrument is also quite useful for your brain memory; this is because your brain will have to remember all the right notes within a song. This in result will help your brain in other situations as it is helping your memory develop. This also works in the way of remembering song lyrics. Within my English lessons I tended to learn Shakespeare lines quite easily as I viewed them like song lyrics as they are normally quick to pick up.
5. Helps relieve pain. Listening to music can lead to opioids which are essentially the body’s own version of morphine; this helps the body to reduce any pain that is being inflicted on it at that time. It also works as once again you are distracted from what pain you are feeling by concentrating on the music and the way that that instead makes you feel.
6. It’s motivational. Whenever I have to either do coursework, house work or even exercise I have to have music playing. If I listen to an upbeat song that makes me want to dance to it I am more likely to do house work, it gives me motivation and a good time to bust out my dance moves when hovering my bed room. With exercise I have to listen to music in order to clear my head and I focus more on the song then what I am actually doing. It helps me to focus on my breathing as it’s a steady pace like the music I listen to.

I’m sure there are more health benefits and more are probably being discovered. In my opinion I love music, the way it makes me feel and the messages behind some of the songs. I love how one song can remind you of a certain memory that you never want to forget or emotion that you felt once when listening to it. How it can make you cry or feel so joyous. I understand that yes, there are still some bad points to listening to music. For example listening to it at a certain volume can be dangerous to our eardrums but sometimes certain songs need to be blasted at full volume. For me it would feel weird to not listen to music every day, it’s something that I depend on to help me through the day. Even if it’s just background music it’s still useful. Music is something that most people needs in their lives (I’m sure some people will argue against this). The fact that it has health benefits is a plus.

With thanks to Florentina Mitrache