13 Songs to Reduce Anxiety & Stress
By: Desi Rottman
A Playlist Of Songs to Pick You Up When You’re Down
Content warning: anxiety, stress
When your mind is running a thousand miles a minute, the last thing you need is some loud music in the background to serve as an additional distraction. Sometimes if you’re having a bad day, you might even want to dive into sad music, which will just feed the negativity. But often, music helps calm us down when struggling with our mental health. It’s key to have a list of calming music in your toolbox for times where you feel too overwhelmed to make a choice as to an easy, quiet soundtrack to help relax your mind. Music can be a really healthy stress-buster!
if me’s Strategies section is the perfect place to keep a link or list of songs that help you calm down. Maybe there’s a particular album you like, or a YouTube playlist of videos you prefer.
The Strategies feature is a great place to turn to when you’re having a tough time and need ideas on practicing self-care. It can remind you of activities or actions that help you when you’re feeling anxious, depressed, or angry. Having your stress-busting playlist here will make it more accessible — finding it faster will help you feel better sooner. By setting up your Strategies beforehand, you don’t have to think about what will make you feel better in the moment — you can just consult your list and start working to feel better.
It’s been scientifically proven that music helps cheer us up, increase productivity, reduce anxiety, and feel more positive. Neuroscientist Dr. Daniel Glaser even talks about how music can be effective in therapy for mental illness.
It’s not just the studies that prove the efficacy of music in difficult times. Some patients use music to better connect to how they’re feeling, rather than change their emotions. This is one way that can be really effective in coping with anxiety and feeling better. Listening to music in an effort to shift away from negative or anxious feelings can be a really impactful way to try to even out mood.
To start you off, we’ve put together a Spotify playlist of some tracks that help us. Ambient, airy sounds can play lightly in the background — and the soothing sounds can help your brain waves even out. Tuck this playlist in your if me’s Strategies section, and it will be ready for you when you need it.
Want more? Read 3 Practical Self-Esteem Boosters
