Music Makes Life Better

There have been several studies on the effects of music on the brain.  Classical music has been shown to improve brain function and learning retention.  Music has also been shown to effect mood.  This is what I wanted to tell you about today.  Music can make life better.

The key to dealing with depression is to not listen to sad music because you will start to ruminate.  When I was in the darkness of my deep depression I listened to Les Miserables a lot, which I can say wasn't helping.  I kept thinking about the loss that I had suffered and how life (work) had, at least in my mind, killed my dream.  What I needed was something upbeat to lift me out of my funk.

Whenever I'm a mess, P!nk seems to come out with an album that describes what I'm going through.  Her song, "Try" helped me immensely.  It was about losing someone and trying to carry on in spite of it. Now her song, "Just Give Me A Reason," is on all the time.  Now, while the lyrics are what I listen to more, the music itself is upbeat. It has been stated that when you're happy you hear the music, but when sad, you hear the lyrics.  I think a combination of both can lift the spirit.

When I was at a therapy session, my therapist suggested that I create a playlist of uplifting music.  A lot of what was on it was pop music because it's also good to exercise to.  That's a different post though.  I do suggest that people make a "happy" playlist, which is just a bunch of songs that lift your mood.  Mine also has a lot of 80's music.  That seems to be happy music because music that came out of the 80's was slightly ridiculous.

Bottom line is that whatever your musical tastes, your favorite artist, or just liking the beat, music makes life better. It's not something huge, but it can improve life 3 minutes at a time.