Can music be damaging?

Hi egor,

Taking a broader question - can music affect us?

The answer is clearly yes -as shown by your subjective experience listening to Radiohead, and also research showing that listening to certain music, for example. Mozart can assist with learning. Calming music has just that effect of being relaxing.

Shopping malls that have been troubled by aggresive gangs have used classical music, and the gangs soon leave - the music doesn't match with their mood, or image.

Can our emotions affect us physically, again yes - as your own experience shows. Everyone feels stress in some part of the body, and experiencing fear will create uncomfortable feelings, for example in the stomach.

Negative emotions have also been shown to weaken the immune system.

Neurotransmitters, the chemical 'messengers' that send nerve impulses between nerve cells have receptors in the brain and throughout the body - in this way our thoughts affect our physical body.

This may explain why we talk of, for example, having 'a gut feeling', and someone being a 'pain in the neck'.

Thanks for the response!

Now I'm left puzzled over why we listen to depressing music when we're depressed (well, some of us do), and why people make depressing music in the first place, sensationalism? Very confuzzling.

Indeedy, alot of the pain can be in the neck (and it can get quite painfull), I have to say, that was a rather neat theory/observation of yours there .

Okay, dunno why I'm posting here, so I'll keep quieto.

Why do we listen to depressed music when we're depressed?

Probably because we want music that's in accord with how we feel - if you're feeling depressed and listen to really lively upbeat music it'll jar with what you're experiencing at the time, so might seem unpleasant.

There are times when it's appropriate to feel sad, for example when someone we care for has died, and some people write sad songs to express their feelings. REM, the band(!) are a good example of this, it's not only the lyrics but the use of minor chords, which make the songs sad.

I remember a study showing that people who listened to a lot of Country and Western had higher levels of depression. But then, so do people who watch a lot of TV!

Music can also be used in a beneficial way.
For instance, when training hard, certain up-beat music can really stimulate the adrenalin rush. Some boxers use this method to train harder for longer. But such music has it's downside as well, listen to that same music when driving can slow reaction times down, and make driving a hazard.

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they are hilarious!

Heck, I've just had a thought. What happens if you watch Country & Western on TV? Instant depression?