Music to your ears

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“One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.”
Bob Marley (1945-1981)

This statement tends to ring true, going by the studies being conducted in the field of the effect of music on mental health.

Music is something that we are all touched by. It is an expression so unique to each one of us while being universal at the same time. The beauty of music is that it does not put a burden on us to reproduce it; you can if you want to, or you can just allow yourself to float as it meanders right through your being. This universal bond that we all have with this world of music has led to investigations of its therapeutic potential.

A study by researchers from McGill University in Canada found that listening to music increases the amount of dopamine produced in the brain – a mood-enhancing chemical – that makes music a feasible treatment for depression. According to some researchers, music may help alleviate stress by lowering the body’s cortisol levels – the hormone released in response to stress.

Turning to our favourite music when stressed often makes us feel better. There are now numerous studies that support this effect. A study conducted in 2013 found that not only did listening to music help reduce pain and anxiety for children at the UK’s Great Ormond Street Hospital, but it also helped reduce stress – independent of social factors.

“Music can lift us out of depression or move us to tears – it is a remedy, a tonic, orange juice for the ear. But for many of my neurological patients, music is even more – it can provide access, even when no medication can, to movement, to speech, to life. For them, music is not a luxury, but a necessity.”  Oliver Sacks, best-selling author, and professor of neurology at NYU School of Medicine

So, how does music help improve mental health?

It is generally understood that listening to and/or creating music can have various positive effects on mood and mental health. Incorporating music into almost every aspect of daily life can help to:

• elevate the mood
• motivate (those intense ‘ROCKY’ movie exercising scenes come to mind)
• aid relaxation (piped music, anyone?)
• increase the efficiency of brain processing

It's crazy how listening to a song can change everything. It's said that a powerful enough song can even change your life. Music can even teach what humanity cannot always – how to be human, live, feel, and love. I’ve known people to suddenly cry when listening to music as it taps into reservoirs of feeling that they didn’t know existed.

If things aren't going right, and you don't know what to do, just turn up some good music and tune out completely. Wake up in time and then work on figuring everything out again.