Can Music Help Depression?

For most of us, music can help lift our mood and can promote a sense of general wellbeing. As a result, the effects of music as a treatment for depression has been investigated in several studies. Overall, these studies have confirmed that when combined with other psychological therapies, music and reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety, and can lower stress levels. Furthermore, listening to music an even lower blood pressure, pain, fatigue, and improve one’s quality of life.

Here is a summary of the published papers and reviews that have been conducted on music therapy:

  • Systematic review of 26 trials and 1369 participants
  • In these studies, listening to music was the main intervention used, and 23 of the studies did not include a trained music therapist.
  • Based on these studies, it was concluded that listening to music can have a beneficial effect on anxiety in persons with Coronary heart disease (CHD), especially those with a myocardial infarction. It also seemed that anxiety-reducing effects were greatest when people were given a choice of which music to listen to. Listening to music also had a beneficial effect on systolic blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, quality of sleep and pain in persons with CHD

Bradt, J., et al. Music for stress and anxiety reduction in coronary heart disease patients. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013 Dec 28;(12):CD006577.

  • Systematic review of 52 trials with a total of 3731 participants.
  • Studies included music therapy interventions offered by trained music therapists and listening to pre-recorded music, offered by medical staff.
  • It was concluded that music interventions may have beneficial effects on anxiety, pain, fatigue, and quality of life in people with cancer

Bradt, J., et al. Music interventions for improving psychological and physical outcomes in cancer patients. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016 Aug 15;(8):CD006911.

  • Meta-analysis and review of 9 studies and 421 participants
  • It was concluded that music therapy provided short-term beneficial effects for people with depression. Furthermore, when music therapy was added to treatment as usual it seemed to enhance treatment effects. Music therapy was also able to decrease anxiety and improve the functioning of depressed individuals.

Aalbers, S. Music therapy for depression. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017 Nov 16;11:CD004517

  • In this paper, the effects of music-based interventions in reducing internalising symptoms (i.e., depression and anxiety) in children and adolescents was investigated.
  • It was concluded that music-based interventions may be effective in reducing the severity of internalising symptoms in children and adolescents.

Geipel, J. Music-based interventions to reduce internalizing symptoms in children and adolescents: A meta-analysis. J Affect Disord. 2018 Jan 1;225:647-656.

  • In this study, MRIs were conducted on 21 people while they listened to music
  • Music had an impact on brain connectively, particularly a brain circuit known to be involved in internally focused thought, empathy and self-awareness.
  • The listeners’ preferences, not the type of music they were listening to, had the greatest impact on brain connectivity
  • This circuit, called the default mode network, was poorly connected when the participants were listening to the music they disliked, better connected when listening to the music they liked and the most connected when listening to their favourites.

Wilkins, R.W., et al. Network Science and the Effects of Music Preference on Functional Brain Connectivity: From Beethoven to Eminem. 2014 Scientific Reports, 4, 6130.

  • From a review of 63 studies, it was concluded that listening music reduced stress levels, lowered heart rate and blood pressure, and reduced levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Relaxing music had a greater impact on the markers than relaxation techniques and anti-anxiety medication. Music also seemed to have an anti-inflammatory effect

Fancourt, D., et al. The psychoneuroimmunological effects of music: a systematic review and a new model. Brain Behav Immun. 2014 Feb;36:15-26.

  • Review of 17 studies including randomised controlled and quasi-experimental trials of music listening in reducing depressive symptoms in adults.
  • Music listening over a period of time helps to reduce depressive symptoms in the adult population.
  • Daily intervention does not seem to be superior to weekly intervention and it is recommended that music listening session be conducted repeatedly over a time span of more than 3 weeks to allow an accumulative effect to occur.
  • All types of music can be used as listening material, depending on the preferences of the listener. So, it is recommended that the listeners are given choices over the kind of music which they listen to.

Chan, M.F., et al. The effectiveness of music listening in reducing depressive symptoms in adults: A systematic review. 2011. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 19 (6), 332-348

  • A review of 5 studies with 1261 women
  • It was concluded that music interventions significantly reduced levels of maternal anxiety during pregnancy

Corbijn van Willenswaard, K., et al. Music interventions to reduce stress and anxiety in pregnancy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Psychiatry. 2017 Jul 27;17(1):271.

…. As you can see from these studies, listing to, or playing music can have very positive effects on our mental health. This is a simple way we can improve mood and reduce stress levels. While it may not be the only solution to improve mood and can be an important component of an integrative intervention

If you are a mental health practitioner and would like to discover a range of integrative strategies to offer your clients, then make sure you don’t miss the 2-day PI Therapy Workshops. CLICK HERE to find out more.

If you are interested in using PI Therapy to enhance your personal mental wellbeing, CLICK HERE to find out more.

>