Do you often get sad while listening to some specific songs? Do you get depressed about some music? Don’t worry, this is normal. We often get into a zone which is quite opposite of being normal. Some music is just made to give you unique feelings. Often music is considered as the soothing alternative to get into a zone of happiness but some make you nostalgic.

Have you ever been thinking about this phenomenon that “why does the same thing has both effects on your mind?”. The detailed studies are going on for the same, but most of them are not that credible.

Instances of music which harms your mind

These are some of the instances where the effect of music has changed the equation drastically. Below mentioned instances are the severe effect of music which are very critical to understand.

• There are reports of people committing suicide after listening to the song “My Way” song. Some people committed suicide after the karaoke also.
• There have been reports in Thailand that some people were killed for singing “Country Road, Take Me Home”.
• Just by the performance of the song “yellow” by Coldplay has that effect due to which a woman stabbed a Malaysian man.
• Hard Metal Rock is infamous for creating hate, distrust, and disgust. It leads to the rebel attitude which emulates aggressiveness and self-destruction among young people.
• It is proven that some music encourages infidelity.

Before getting into the reason behind this phenomenon, let’s take a brief understanding of the working of music on our minds.

An instance of feeling the same way

This is ambiguous that I found myself in that space. I was going through a phase in my life where I had no job, nothing credible to work on. At that time I found music as a sole reliever of my stress. But to be very surprised I have been in a deteriorating zone by listening to some specific songs. Though most of the songs at that time lifted my emotion.

This generated a curiosity in me that how can the same thing effects drastically. One emotion makes you happy and the other will succumb to you in the negative thoughts. For that reason, I researched briefly about this. Some of the findings were quite relaxing but others are not so productive.

How does music works on our minds?

The music affects our mood and emotion by stimulating the flow of some specific chemicals in our brain. the listening of music substantially increases the brain chemical known as dopamine. Dopamine is responsible for secreting the motivation molecule and it is the important constituent of the pleasure system of our brain. Just like the different activities such as orgasm, meeting with a loved one causes the brain effect, it also enormously increases the pleasure receptors.

There is a possibility of increasing the secretion of dopamine by shuffling the playlist of your songs. Gradually listening to the same genre of songs makes the secretion of dopamine continuous but in a small amount. It should be understood in this way that a favorite song of yours boosts the flow of dopamine. When you listen to songs in a group or with friends the chemical is known an oxytocin releases. It is the chemical that is responsible for making you trust. It also helps to bond with others. The uneven secretion of oxytocin to the music lovers increases the trustworthiness and generosity.

Below are some of the complex functioning of music onto your mind:

• The functioning of music on the brain is complex to understand. Most of the psychologists and neuroscientists are readily working to get a grasp of it. The effect of music on the mind of people is vivid as it causes both positive and negative effects.
• Music contains the power to evoke memory which is related to emotions. Some of the memories are formulated around specific music or songs which can be drawn out of the music. This is the reason behind using music as a therapy for curing different psychological problems. There is something odd about music and emotions. We get happy and sad both which is one of its types of responses from a single thing. According to various studies, it is intense that if we are familiar with a type of music which soothes us then after a detailed period also it has its effects.
• The dissonant music makes the brain surge blood to the section of the brain which is responsible for various kinds of emotion. Music is only the thing which has a various set of effects on the human mind. Sometimes the body gets into a phase where we want to dance just by listening to a song and sometimes it generates a feeling of detachment. The feeling of detachment is also due to the experience it is associated with.

Further elaboration of the feelings we get while listening to songs

• Sometimes we get attracted to music which generates a feeling of sadness. There is a pursuance attitude in all people who often want to seek sadness through that music. Some people derive pleasure from sorrow and they readily want that emotion. This feeling is known as Sadness Paradox. It is quite evident in people’s minds that to feel lively and happy we prefer to listen to happy and upbeat music, but this not true at all. It is scientifically proven that the choice of songs depends upon the current emotional state. For example, you get praise from your boss in the office and return, you will opt for the playlist of songs which make you happy or in other words those songs which you play often when you are happy. Often people find it the same but this is different.
• It is the case with most people. Even after a hard day at my office, I was in the depression zone and while commuting I prefer sad music.
• Though some people prefer this type of sad music just to experience negative emotions. This is typically a disorder that should be addressed carefully. There are some real cases where people listen continuously to sad music just for getting a touch of negative emotion. These are mostly in occurrence with those people who are nettling depression and mood disorders.
• There are some of the ways which can help you to suppress these feelings of depression. Some of the prevalent strategies which are preferred for selecting the songs are

1. Memory triggers help to get those memories from the past which makes you nostalgic.
2. Some of the lyrics and music exerts the story which you had connected them with in the past.

• There are some functions of music which are served for those specific human beings which helps them to give a push to their emotions and helps them to move on.
• You have to understand that sadness is a common aspect of humanity which generates the feeling of empathy. It helps them to extract themselves from negative thinking
• Sad music also helps people to take an escape route from being silent, which ultimately makes them depressed. Music has the potential to change your mental state.

Benefits of selecting sad music over regular ones

There are some advantages to sad music also. Apart from the severe repercussions, it generates some positive effects.

• Sad music is responsible for providing a painful but important and positive purified thinking which is necessary for healthy emotional behavior. It is scientifically proved that crying can provide the above things which are necessary for sound emotional behavior. Sad music provides you with that and makes you let it go. It will help you to feel good.
• It can also help to develop a strong emotional connection. In a nutshell, we can say that we get attached to some music or songs on a personal level. We like it so much that we want to repeatedly listen to that. In some cases, people want to listen to the same sad song continuously when they are in a despair mode. The emotional connection to anything can enable you to attain sound thinking. It is preferable to listen to sad music for a brief time. Getting addicted to this type of music causes an adverse effect.

At last, we should carefully choose the type of music we like to listen to. Parents should give keen attention to their children so that they can get to know about the right state of mind. It has been seen that in the phase of depression people tend to listen to those songs which makes them sad. Proper guidance and regular counseling can save people from committing vulnerable stuff.

Moreover, it is not that hard to understand the functioning of your brain. At the time of joy, you prefer that music which continues to that zone. At other times when you feel the desperation for something or depression, you prefer to listen to those which are quite sad.