Music and Mental health

 We all listen to music for several reasons. Some of us listen to music to get our mind off everyday life while some of us use music to think through the past. The functions of music are many. Todays millennials use music to study and groove to. The Mozart effect is a very popular idea that has floated the world of academia and beyond for a while now. People who listen to Mozart do better on IQ tests. We can do pretty much anything with the music that we have. Studies have shown that people look for music that are relatable to them. The lyrics in the music get etched into our psyche. If you notice, you will see many people using lyrics as captions to their pictures. These ideas have many complicated implications for mental health. 

We internalize or identify with the music we chose. we develop a deep connection with the music we chose. There are complex entanglements of intentions that affect the way we chose our music. Does this have mental health implications? Yes it does. There are many studies in this decade that say so. Music is increasingly perceived as a coping mechanism. 

We manage our internal emotional states and emotional demands by regulating the kind of music we choose to listen to. Research by Stewart et al. (2019) said that people who are depressed either use music that is opposite to their mood hence shifting their mood or use music to mirror their mood. Those who used music that mirror their depressed mood said that such the choice was made to validate their mood. other participants used music to intensify their emotional experience. It helps them wallow in or deeply think about their life stressors. A lot of people do realize that certain lyrics are having a negative impact on their mood but continue to consume such music until they feel averse to it. Music is made to reach out to people and to help them relate to the singer and the singers intention. Hence, when people relate to a few sentences of a song they identify themselves with it, further they absorb the song as a whole. Repeating this can unconsciously set our minds to associate ourselves or our lives with certain negative phrases in songs. This ultimately increases our risk for mental health issues. It is important to understand the link between music and mental health. We must be conscious of what we are choosing to tell our minds about ourselves. When we listen to songs we become either the one speaking or the one being spoken to. We actively assimilate the characters of a song into our psyche. We are open to labelling and re labelling our feelings with words that are not ours and hence may not accurately fit our situation. It can intensify our emotions. Hence, we must consciously choose the music we consume. 

Some things that make the journey of exploring the healthiest music for yourself easier is thinking of the transition as a new phase of genre exploration. You can come across the different kinds of music from across the world. 

Instrumental music can be a great alternative if lyrical music seems to be triggering. trying instrumentals and folk music can really help you appreciate how different kinds of music affect our moods.