Art is one of the highest achievements of the conscious human mind. While often bringing no practical value, art is highly valued all around the world for it pleases the aesthetic needs of people. Music is quite a unique art form as it manages to strongly influence our emotional state for longer periods of time as it has to be appreciated differently. No wonder why psychologists suggested it as one of the means to deal with stress and anxiety.
The Sound of Art
For the most part, art is a visual thing. Painting, sculpture, architecture, and some other forms are all appreciated in the dimension of space. The amount of time a person needs to visually study a piece of art and form their initial opinion on it can range between seconds and minutes. The only exception would, perhaps, be writing some free essay samples as it can be longer. Music, however, is appreciated temporally, which makes it unique.
Temporal appreciation means that the listener must perceive a piece of musical art for its complete duration to form a complete opinion about it and appreciate it properly. This makes music as a form of art somewhat harder to take for the majority of listeners. At the same time, some forms of music are more accessible and, thus, can be helpful to more people.
Partially because of its nature, music has repeatedly proven to have strong neurological and psychological effects. From helping Alzheimer’s disease patients to recall their older memories to assisting in curing depression, music has everything covered. While music is not always listed on various lists of 10 healthy lifestyle tips for students, it certainly should be. But how exactly does it help us improve our mental health?
- Music shifts and enhances focus. Whether you listen to music purportedly to enjoy it or turn it on as a background for your studies, the music manages to shift your focus away from depressing thoughts and feelings of anxiety. In case if you listen to music to appreciate it, you unconsciously begin to follow its rhythm, attempt to discern its harmonic patterns, or sing along to the lyrics. In case if the music works as a background for you, it can largely help you concentrate on what you do, for the same reason.
- Music makes the brain work faster. Studies have shown that the brain starts working much faster as you listen to music because it activates many sections of the brain at the same time. That is one of the reasons why background music works well for concentration on studies or work. While that can actually help in stimulating feelings of grief, after some time, sections of the brain responsible for serotonin and dopamine generating, thus, driving the depression, stress, and anxiety away.
- Music can help in socializing. Another great way to cope with depression and overall low feelings is to fight them with as many “happy hormones” as possible. While listening to the music while alone, you unleash the strongest of them, you can get an additional dose by listening or playing music with somebody else. The hormone oxytocin is generated by our brain when we socialize. So, if you’re listening to or playing music with somebody, you increase your arsenal of weapons against depression, stress, and anxiety.
- Music can work as a soothing association. One of the best ways to control our emotions and feelings is to associate them with something positive. After reading this essay writing service review, you will find that the student listened to some tunes from his childhood to calm down right before the exam. So, if you know a melody or a few that reminds you about happier moments of your life, make sure to compile a mixtape of such tunes and listen to them whenever you feel uninspired and lonely.
Listening the Stress Away
It may not seem like much, but music can be a great helper in our lives. Historically, people soothed themselves with music. Soldiers sang marches while going to the war, African American slaves sang blues and spirituals to get relief from all the hard labor, and people were dancing to swing to forget about the Great Depression just for one evening. Yes, art doesn’t bring the obvious practical use to the table. Yet, if you dig just a bit deeper, you can see that it manages to save our lives quite a lot, and music is one of many proofs of that.
