The Power of Music on Mental Health

Have you ever heard someone saying, "I hate music"? I may guess the answer is no, a big no. Music is something we all can relate to without the barrier of race, religion, sex, caste, or ethnicity, and one can call it the language of love. 

You might have noticed even if you do not understand the lyrics, you feel for the music. Music holds the power of global appeal, and it is one of the many things people love. This blog will help you look into the power of music on mental health. 

What is mental health, and how does it affect us?

Mental health includes our psychological, emotional, and social well-being. It affects the way you think, feels, and act. These factors also help determine how you handle stress, relate to others, and make healthy lifestyle choices. One must remember that mental health is an essential part of every stage of life, from childhood to adulthood through adolescence. 

Effects of mental health on quality of life

People with severe mental health often have to deal with a poor quality of life. One can characterize it as

• feelings of distress;
• lack of control;
• low self-esteem and confidence;
• choice and autonomy;
• diminished activity;
• a sense of not being associated with the society; and
• a sense of demoralization and hopelessness

Effects of Mental health on your future

Your mental health can affect the functioning of your body, and if you are experiencing mental illness, it may reduce life expectancy. Several mental health conditions can lessen life expectancy by up to 20 years, equivalent to heavy smoking. 

Effects of Mental health on your social life

Poor mental health can directly influence people's relationships with their spouses, children, relatives, friends, and co-workers. It often leads to problems such as social isolation, which is more likely to disrupt an individual's communication and interaction with others. 

Role of Music

Music's effects on the mind include:

• Better learning: Listening to music can stimulate your brain. It can engage the brain in a way that they can see the active areas up in the MRI scans. Even the promise of listening to music can make an individual want to learn more.
• Improves memory: Music positively impacts your ability to memorize. While music does not reverse the memory loss people with Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia have experienced, it can slow cognitive decline and help individuals with mild or moderate dementia remember some episodes from their lives. 
• Mental illness treatment: Listening to music can trigger the release of specific neurochemicals that plays a significant role in brain function and mental health, including dopamine, oxycontin, serotonin, and stress hormones like cortisol. 

Music's effects on mood include:

• Anxiety reduction: Listening to music can calm you in situations when you feel anxious. Several studies show how influential music is in the case of stroke. Even individuals who experience critical illness feel less anxious after music therapy. 
• It helps with depression symptoms: Listening to music, specifically classical, in combination with jazz, is known to help deal with depression symptoms. It would be better to do several listening sessions organized by board-certified music therapists. 

Music's effects on physical health include: 

• Heart health: Music can help you move and groove with its rhythm, and the benefits of dancing are well known. Listening to music can alter your heart rate, breath rate, and blood pressure, depending on intensity and tempo. 
• Decreases fatigue: Music can energize people, and some studies found that relaxing music can maintain muscle endurance and reduce fatigue when people engage themselves in a repetitive task. 
• Boosts exercise performance: Exercise enthusiasts might be fully aware of the power of music in enhancing physical performance. Working out with music helps the body exercise more efficiently, improves your mood, and cuts down exertion. It can also increase your workout session. 
• Helps manage pain: Treatment with trained music therapists can help alleviate pain. Music can help manage both acute and chronic pain. 

Why is it so powerful?

Researchers believe that music is one of the most excellent forms of art in its ability to cause catharsis in anyone listening to it. Other forms of art, somehow by their nature, need to rely on different communication sources to convey their meaning.

For example, literature and films use language through dialogue. Language requires to be understood by the reader or views to a specific degree if they want to get anything out of the stuff they are reading or watching. 

Music is a form of art that does not have to worry about its meaning and message as it is simply clear every time you listen. Almost all of us can feel the ability to get immediately impacted by the music. 

Bottom Line

Music can help deal with mental health, so if you are feeling anxious or stressed, the best treatment you can do in a short period is to put on a  song or listen to some music that you find emotionally moving. It does have to be of any specific band as any genre could work; you just need something that moves you to the core. 

It depends upon you; whatever song you choose must have the power to impact you within seconds positively. If your current position is specifically vulnerable, every second counts, so it would be best to have a form of art that can work on you instantaneously is valuable. 

Even if your mental health demands you to lay down and listen to music for hours, do not deny this appeal. Deep down, you are aware that you need it, and doing it for hours can only help you. We are saying that it can make your problems disappear, but we assure you that it can give you the strength to fight your battles calmly.