Being a teenager can feel constantly overwhelming as adolescents try to balance school, home, and social responsibilities. To help ease the pressures they are feeling, it can be beneficial to identify healthy methods of coping with stress and anxiety. One coping mechanism that can have positive outcomes is music therapy.
The treasure of music therapy and how it can help moods
Researchers are increasingly supporting music therapy as a way to cope with stress and help regulate moods. Listening to music can have a profound effect on both your teen’s body and their emotions, particularly if they are going through anxious or depressive episodes.
The teenage body can have physiological responses to music, and depending on which type of music is playing, the body can relax or become excited. Slow, quiet, classical music can decelerate the pulse and heart rate, bring down blood pressure, relax muscles, and decrease the level of stress hormones being produced. This type of music is great for teens who feel overwhelmed or anxious and need to calm their mind. Upbeat music can conversely make teens feel more alert, aid in concentration, and cause them to feel more optimistic about life. This music could be great for teens who need a jolt of energy.
Beyond the physical, music therapy can assist teens emotionally in various ways. For many teens, listening to music serves as a source of well being. Music can help adolescents make sense of a world that doesn’t make sense by allowing them to identify and express emotions such as anger. Recognizing emotions in music that they are feeling themselves enables them to process anxiety, sadness, loneliness, stress, and anger in ways that they aren’t able to verbalize.
Listening to music can also help teens cultivate their own identity. Through music, teens can form connections to a band or peers who enjoy the same music, which creates a sense of belonging and reduces isolation. When teens feel like they fit in somewhere, it simultaneously helps them develop a better sense of self.
Lastly, listening to music just makes the brain happy. When music reaches the inner ear, endorphins release in the brain which can help promote positive moods, lower stress-related hormones, and decrease depressive symptoms. The louder the music, the more endorphins are released, so this could explain your teen’s desire to crank up the volume.
Whether your teen enjoys hip-hop, country, pop, alternative, or classical music, encourage the use of music as a source of therapy when the teenage years are becoming too much to handle. Support your teens in listening to their music while studying or working, while doing chores, during their busy morning routine, or even in creating their own music.
Red Mountain Colorado Can Help
Red Mountain Colorado is a leading residential treatment center for teens aged 14-17 that is uniquely designed to help struggling adolescents work through mental health issues like trauma, depression, and anxiety. Our unique programming helps teens build numerous healthy coping habits to utilize when they become stressed or overwhelmed.
Our program focuses on evidence-based and holistic therapies to help your teen overcome negative thoughts and behaviors and develop greater self-awareness, self-confidence, and positive decision making. For more information please call (970) 316-7683.