Music Therapy & Mental Health Music is much more than a tune playing on your phone or in the back of your head. It can help you get past the worst of times and improve your mental health. Music therapy uses this idea to help those with mental illnesses. Music is all around us. It’s in nature, instruments, and, of course, in TikTok. Recent studies have shown that music holds the power to improve our mental health. Music therapy is a type of healthcare career where professionals therapeutically use music to help patients physically, emotionally, and mentally. Different applications of music therapy can help patients in different ways.
While certain kinds of music can help you relax, other kinds can help motivate you. An example of this is listening to an upbeat and fast song while you work out. According to a 2010 study where participants were exercising with a song playing in the background, those who listened to the song at 1.1x speed were able to exercise longer and harder than those who listened to the song at 1x and 0.9x speed.
Firstly, music helps de-stress and improve sleep. In a 2008 study, college students with sleep issues were separated into three groups: listening to classical music before bed, listening to an audiobook before bed, or not listening to anything. The study found that those who listened to classical music reported the best sleep as soothing music can calm your brain down, slowing your blood pressure, heart rate, and thinking. Listening to music can also be one of the easiest ways to reduce insomnia.
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