Music and Mental Health: A Critical Link
It’s no secret that music can have a profound impact on how we feel. The right song choice in our favorite movie can vividly cement a scene in our memory, and a song we listened to in high school can pull us right back to the throes of adolescence with just the opening riff.
So, it may seem obvious that music has benefits for our mental health. Many of us use music to boost our mood in the mornings, energize us during a run, or pump us up before a big event — and we can definitely attest to the positive feelings we get from listening to the right melody at the right time. But there is, in fact, a growing body of research to support that conclusion, too.
Music can help us to calm or regulate our emotions and get in touch with or express our feelings. It can even bring us closer — many people form strong relationships with others when they’re able to bond over a shared love of the same kind of music. Music therapy is even used to treat different mental health conditions like depression and trauma.
So, taking a closer look at exactly how music can impact our mood and mental health can help us to be more mindful of how we consume it. Plus, in learning to harness music’s benefits for ourselves, we can start thinking about how we might teach our kids how to do the same.
