powered by:
valneva canada inc.
sad songs say so much. they're good for you, too.
if you love someone with a couple of sufjan stevens tunes on their phone, cut them some slack. it probably does them good.
feb 24 2020
3 minute read
stock/ getty images
there are two kinds of people in the world. those who get a big fat case of the feels when a sad song comes on, and those who run screaming out of earshot. my friends and i count ourselves among the former group and have a tendency to want to evangelize the emotional health benefits of minor keys. we get that this is annoying — but we mean well. the truth is we really don’t get why you think this mortal coil is depressing. we think it’s beautiful and comforting. plus, we think taylor swift is made of plastic.
turns out there is more than a little science behind all this.
a team led by graduate student sunkyung yoon at the university of south florida appears to have confirmed an earlier finding that patients suffering from depression seek out sad music to make them feel better .
the study compared the musical preferences of two groups of 38 female undergraduate students. the first had received a depression diagnosis, the second hadn’t. the results showed that those with depression were more likely to express a preference for sad music clips presented to both groups.
“[we] found that persons with depression chose more sad music, compared to non-depressed controls,” says yoon. “but they also prefer low-energetic music to high-energetic ones, more than non-depressed participants.”
advertisement
advertisement
when asked to explain their choices, the undergrads said they found the music relaxing, calming or soothing.
“[even] though the majority of the depression group chose sad music, depressed people reported greater happiness and less sadness when listening to their chosen music, than they did at baseline,” says yoon. “thus, we concluded that the strong appeal of sad music to people with depression may be related to its calming effects.”
so sad music has the potential to soothe depression?
“[their] sad music preference may be related to its calming effects,” she says. “[it] cannot be viewed as a maladaptive behaviour. although it needs further research, listening to sad music when depressed might be beneficial due to its relaxing effects.”
another study , conducted by the u.k.’s durham university and the university of jyväskylä in finland found that people’s reactions to sad music varied a bit more widely. among the 2,436 people covered by three separate surveys, their reactions could be organized into three categories: pleasure, comfort and pain.
advertisement
advertisement
on the upside, researchers point to both social psychological and neuroscientific explanations. downward social comparison is a psychology term best demonstrated by reality television. shows like the bachelor and canada’s worst driver make us feel better about ourselves because omg those people are a disaster. sad songs remind some of us that no matter how bad we’ve been wronged, that guy on the radio is in worse shape than we are.
another psychological view is that we derive some comfort from listening to music that matches our state of mind. cranking “shiny happy people” when you’re more “everybody hurts” is a bit like faking an orgasm. it might make someone else feel better, but it kind of sucks for you.
neuroscience takes a more chemical-based approach to explaining the positive effects of sad music. it can trigger the brain to produce prolactin, a hormone that helps us cope with grief. the listener is effectively tricked into believing something negative is happening. when it doesn’t, the listener is left with a kind of prolactin buzz. it is an extraordinary example of music’s potential to elicit a physical response.
so if you love someone with a couple of cat power or sufjan stevens downloads on their phone, cut them some slack. it probably does them good.
advertisement
advertisement
kevin press ( @baddpress ) is author of the moderns and host of a blog and radio program under the same name. his favourite song is “boys don’t cry” by the cure.
share story
