6 Mental Health Benefits of Playing Music

Plato, the Greek philosopher, once said, “Music gifts a soul to the universe, wings to a mind, flight to your imagination, and life to everything else.” It’s been thousands of years, yet these words still hold true. Music is part of almost all cultures in the world. Human history has such an in-depth connection with music that it is hard to distinguish where one begins and the other ends. Its importance cannot be understated. The benefits of playing Music on mental health are tremendous.

It doesn’t matter how old you are, where your musical tastes lie, or whether you know one end of piano from another; it’s never too late to pick an instrument and start learning it. Listening to music is very beneficial for the soul and the body. If you have a mental illness, just take your prescribed medicines from pharmacies such as emeds and listen to your favorite music to get better.

Playing vs listening to music

Psychologically speaking, playing and listening to music are two different things. While the benefits of listening to music are well-established, learning to compose or play music has even more beneficial results on the mind.

1. Playing music stimulates the mind

Playing music is a significant way to exercise your brain. It increases the dopamine activity in the brain, which is a neurotransmitter responsible for pleasure. In addition, it stimulates the areas of the brain that are responsible for motor control, spatial coordination, and auditory control. There’s a reason they say musicians have healthier brains. You can stave off a number of diseases that affect the brain with dedicated musical instrument playing, like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

2. Playing music makes you smarter

Musical playing or training is directly linked to educational success in people of all age groups. They say learning a new language is one of the best methods to keep your brain healthy, but this principle applies to musical learning too. Even when learning to play a musical instrument for the first time as an adult, it gives noticeable stimulation to your brain. It helps to enhance memory recall, aesthetic taste, and abstract reasoning capabilities. In addition, when playing music, your brain releases certain chemicals that help neural growth, which in turn strengthens your mental capabilities. That’s why start playing music if you wish to become smart. Because learning can be started at any time in life.

3. Playing music gives a sense of community

Listening to music provides massive mental health benefits, but playing music even does more. However, that’s not the limit of benefits it provides you –playing music benefits your social health too. There are many music communities out there that can provide you with a safe space to share ideas and gossip. Even solo musicians can find groups, friends, and communities online to share tips and ask some questions to expand their social circle.

When you play the music, your friends and family members often call on you to play during an event, ensuring you remain the center of attention during the event. When deciding to practice, do not do so alone. Either join a local musical group, gather like-minded individuals, and jam once every few days. Such a communal environment can have very positive effects on your mental health.

4. Playing music promotes creativity

Creativity is the pinnacle of mental health. As you grow in playing music and start improvising, it forces you to improve your mental dexterity and capabilities. Improvised music lets you try new things, compose new tunes and songs, and stretch your imagination to the limit. Such mental parkour is exceptionally healthy for emotional well-being.

Music is also a perfect outlet for emotions. Your anger, sadness, helplessness, or desperation –all can be poured into the music until you get yourself back into equilibrium. Your feelings force you to be even more creative to express yourself properly. In the end, music is extremely good at massaging your brain muscles and gives you above-average creative skills.

5. Playing music helps relieve stress

Music is an excellent outlet for repressed emotions and frustrations. It lets you creatively process negative thoughts and let your anxiety go. Countless accounts and studies have shown that playing music genuinely makes people happy. It even lowers depression in patients with depressive disorder. Instead of wallowing in self-induced misery while binge-watching soap operas and eating containers full of ice cream, music lets you out your inner demons in a positive manner. Lowering your anxiety also provides positive physiological effects, like reduced blood pressure and a lesser risk of a heart attack. In fact, music can even save you from letting a mild mental condition develop into full-on psychosis.

6. Playing music helps build confidence

Music is a great social lubricant, even greater than alcohol. It doesn’t just bring you to the center of attention when the next birthday party comes around but also lets you interact with people on a positive note. Music is light-hearted fun; it doesn’t require you to build long-term goals, put in the excess effort to achieve them, and stress over the outcome. The more time you spend learning and playing music, the more your confidence grows and strengthens your mental and physical health. Pick an instrument and give it a try to experience going through life without soul-crushing expectations and the will to face the unknown.

Last word

Without a doubt, music gives enormous benefits for both physical and mental well-being. So if you wish to bring equilibrium to your disturbed mental framework, start learning an instrument as an outlet. Results would never be disappointing for you.

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