Sunday 26 April 2015

Five Facts - Music Makes you Happy

Regular visitors to my blog know that I love music, but not everyone is as fanatical about music as I am, so this is my attempt to convert any non-music loving people with a few facts about the benefits:

1.  Music can help reduce your blood pressure and heart rate. (So much for the GP telling me I had to do lots of exercise to reduce my blood pressure! I joke. I'm still swimming.)

2.  Even if you listen to sad music, it will still lift your mood and reduce your stress levels. (I love sad songs. I have playlists full of them.)

3.  Making music, either singing or with instruments, is a recognised method of improving people's cognitive functions. (I play piano and guitar - badly - but I still get great satisfaction from it.)

4.  Music therapy has been shown to help stroke patients, especially with emotions and social interaction.

5.  Both playing and listening to music can help patients with dementia and amnesia.

The arguments in favour of music as therapeutic seem to be pretty decisive. In which case, why isn't music therapy offered by GPs instead, or alongside, anti-depressants?

My favourite way of listening to music right now is on Spotify. Below is a section of one of my favourite playlists. I can spend hours scrolling through all the songs on Spotify. It's my idea of musical bliss.


What is your idea of musical bliss?