Music is something that everyone can experience, whether it is live or streaming through your favorite album. Aside from being universal, it can also provide health benefits. Below are five health benefits of music and music therapy.
When you listen to music, it releases the hormone norepinephrine, which makes you feel euphoria. It also causes your brain to release two neurotransmitters, dopamine and serotonin. These neurotransmitters make you feel happy and feel a sense of well-being. A study that examined how different types of music help people who experience symptoms of depression found that classical music and relaxation music caused them to have a positive mood. If you listen to music you enjoy, you raise your levels of cortisol, which can fight back against chronic stress.
While you listen to music, your body lowers its blood pressure and heart rate. A study published in the Journal of Pediatrics that examined the effects of music on bedridden heart patients found that by listening to music for 30 minutes a day people were able to lower their heart rate, blood pressure and levels of distress.
When you listen to music that brings out your emotions, it can influence a person’s opioid system, which helps alleviate pain. A study published by the Journal of Clinical Nursing found that people who listened to relaxing music while recovering from open heart surgery had an increased level of oxytocin, a hormone, than people who did not listen to music.
According to the Journal of Eating Disorders, people who regularly participated in music therapy had less anxiety and distress after eating as compared to people who only had therapy for their post meal anxiety. Of course, many cases warrant a visit to a center like Reasons Eating Disorder Center, but music therapy can help the healing process.
A study published by the Journal of Advanced Nursing found that people who listened to relaxing or classical music an hour before going to bed made them sleep better as compared to people who listened to an audio book as well as not listening to anything before falling asleep.
Music isn’t just for passing the time and tapping your feet to. It can also benefit your health. These five benefits will help you the next time you crank up the volume to your favorite songs.