Why Music Relaxes People

Most people like music and listen to it for fun, but music may also be able to make some people healthier. Scientists know that music has a certain influence over our emotions and thoughts, but new studies are emerging that show that music does more than just relax certain people. It can reduce stress, anxiety and even depression as well as relieve some symptoms experienced by heart patients and pregnant women.

Effects

• Music affects people's thoughts and emotions. Its main purpose is to entertain, and when people are entertained, they're naturally more relaxed. Music also distracts people. When people are listening to music, they concentrate on it and their thoughts are diverted from more unpleasant thoughts or memories. Listening to music encourages daydreaming. Whether the daydreaming is related to the music and lyrics or not, people tend the let their thoughts drift when listening, and this can be relaxing. Listening to music can have one or all of these effects at any given time.

Benefits

• The high levels of stress that some people experience can increase their blood pressure, anxiety levels, and heart rate. Some people tend to fixate on stressful thoughts or situations, and in order to lower their stress levels, they need something to relax them, or take their thoughts away from the stressful situation at hand.
  Because of its calming, entertaining and distracting effects, listening to music can decrease blood pressure, heart rate and levels of anxiety related to stress. The strength of music's effects vary from person to person depending on how long they listen to the music, what kind of music they listen to, and how high their blood pressure and anxiety are in the first place.

Expert Insight

• A study by scientists Ae-Na Choi, Myeong Soo Lee and Hyun-Ja Lim published in The Journal of Alternative and Complimentary Medicine in 2008 showed that people diagnosed with depression who went through music therapy in addition to traditional therapy displayed fewer symptoms than those in the control group, who went through traditional therapy alone. In the study, after as little as 15 seconds, the people in the music therapy group showed a significant improvement in their depression, anxiety and attitudes toward relationships.
  In this study, scientists found music that matches the listener's mood can release emotions. For example, if someone feels angry, listening to angry music may allow that person to release her feelings. This can have a calming effect. Some people also describe it as a cleansing feeling.

Heart Patients

• People with heart disease may have higher blood pressure and heart rates, but some patients also experience anxiety and depression related to their condition. When listening to music, some heart patients were able to take their minds off of their condition, which contributed to stress relief, and sometimes a reduction in depression symptoms.
  Though studies on how long heart patients should listen to music or what kind of music heart patients should listen to were inconclusive, doctors like Joke Bradt of the Arts and Quality of Life Research Center at Temple University in Philadelphia that study the effects of music on heart patients, agree that more research on music therapy for heart disease patients is warranted.

Pregnant Women

• Pregnant women often suffer from stress and anxiety related to their pregnancies. Researchers in Taiwan conducted a study published in the Journal of Clinical Nursing in 2008 on pregnant women listening to music. They found that those who listened to music were able to reduce their overall stress and anxiety levels after just 2 weeks. The music that the women in the study listened to had a rhythm of about 60 to 80 beats per minute, which coincides with the heart rate. Music that usually has a similar rhythm includes classical music, lullabies and sounds of nature.