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Teyanna Myers
Writing 1010 B4
Rogers
22 November 2014
Music Affects Mental Illness
Music is a huge part of popular culture, its used in movies, TV shows, and referenced in
everyday settings such as school or among groups of people. Music can be used to express the
thoughts and feelings of specific topics, issues or even events. Using music can express these
things sometimes better than any other form of expression or way of communication. One of the
issues that are frequently expressed with music is mental illness; this issue is hardly ever talked
about and is considered a taboo subject. Through music, mental illness has become more of an
issue that is talked about rather than just suppressed. The presence that mental illness has in
music is wide spread from songs about mental illness, to the use of music therapy to treat mental
illness, there is even some correlation between the type of music preference a person has and the
mental health of that person. Music has positively affected the issue of mental health by creating
songs about mental health making it less of a taboo subject and from using it in treating mental
health conditions.
Mental illness is an issue that has been around for a long time in human history. In many
ancient cultures, mental illness used to be considered a punishment from god. These attitudes
toward mental illness continued until recently, which resultantly led to the poor treatment of
mentally ill individuals (Unite for Sight). Even though most of the world nowadays does not
consider mental illness to be a curse from god, its still a topic that is avoided regularly in
conversations. This is especially bad considering that there is a high percentage of the

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population, specifically children and young adults, in America that suffers from a mental illness.
According to the National Alliance on Mental illness (NAMI) Four million children and
adolescents in this country suffer from a serious mental disorderSuicide is the third leading
cause of death in youth ages 15 to 24Over 90 percent of children and adolescents who commit
suicide have a mental disorder(NAMI). NAMI is a group that was created in 1979, and is
dedicated to raising awareness about mental illness in America. Young adults are prone to being
persuaded through types of media, meaning that teens would respond to treatment of their mental
illness if music were apart of their treatment.
In popular culture there are many songs that bring up the issues of mental health, no
matter what type of genre of music there is bound to be a song in there about mental health,
specifically ones about depression/suicide, and self-harming. The songs about mental illness
have a unique way of giving people with mental illness hope, by letting them know they are not
alone. Most songs are specific to a certain type of mental illness, and a lot of songs are about
depression and suicide. These songs specifically give hope to people when they are feeling
down. An example of a fairly popular song that was written about mental illness is Never too
Late by the band Three Days Grace. The author of this song, Adam Gontier, stated that This
song is about being in a very dark place, but being able to see a way out...A feeling like you don't
belong here, and wanting to give up, but never giving up(Gontier, Never Too Late). This
meaning is expressed the best in the chorus which has the lyrics:
Even if I say
"It'll be alright"
Still I hear you say
You want to end your life
Now and again we try to
Just stay alive
Maybe we'll turn it all around

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'Cause it's not too late
It's never too late
This song has a very hopeful outlook on the problems and gives hope in the darkest of times.
(Three days Grace). Lyrics similar to these ones are in so many other songs that have been
created, whenever someone is looking up this song, or a song like it, on YouTube then there are
thousands of comments about how the lyrics of the song and the song itself have gave people
hope in their life when they didnt see a way out. Music that is created with a specific mental
illness in mind helps with the mental illness in letting listeners know that they are not alone in
the world.
There have been studies that have found that music helps treat patients with mental
illness. How they use music to treat mental illness is with music therapy, according to an article
on a psychiatric website the objective of music therapy is to approach issues that may not be
addressed using words alone (Psych Central). Using activities like writing music, playing and
listening to music, this therapy has been shown to greatly increase the stability of the patients
mental and physical health. This therapy is used to treat all types of mental illness from the ones
that affect the young to the ones that affect the elderly. A specific mental illness this type of
therapy has treated is depression. In a study that took place in Sweden, this study showed that
music therapy combined with standard care for depression significantly helped in the treatment
of depression for a short amount of time, compared to the standard treatment of depression. The
exact results of this study was After 3 months, the participants receiving music therapy and
standard care showed greater improvement than those receiving standard care only in symptoms
of depression meaning that with the combination of music therapy and standard care then the
symptoms of depression decrease faster then just getting standard care for depression (Medical
News Today). The reason for this is because music has a way to express thoughts and feelings

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that words cant fully describe, making it easer to release the emotions in a way that is easer then
speaking.
Even though music helps in the treatment of mental illness, there have been studies that
show people who listen to more music are more likely to become depressed, compared to the
people who watch more TV than listen to music. In a particular study, it was concluded that
Major depressive disorder is positively associated with popular music exposure and negatively
associated with reading print media such as books, major depressive disorder (MDD) is also
referred to as depression, (Media Use and Major Depressive Disorder), meaning that adolescents
who spend more time listening to music have higher rates of depression. Yet this study does not
coincide with the many other studies that have been conducted on media use connecting to
depression. In the article about the study it states, that [the association] doesnt necessarily
mean that music causes depression for some depressed teens, music may even help (Ninh).
Just because there is a correlation that darker music leads to higher depression rates, in general
music helps treat depression.
Music plays a huge role in popular culture and it affects everything no matter what it is.
Music even effects mental health, and helps treat mental illness in individuals by helping them
express emotions through the use of music. There are many types of music. Some types of music
help better treat mental illness more than others. The use of the issue of mental illness in music,
and with the help of groups that are dedicated to the exposure of mental illness, has made it less
of a taboo subject and is talked about in the culture more frequently. The lyrics in some songs
give hope to the people listening to the music and often times they can relate more to that music
about the mental illness because they might have one. Even though some types of popular music
lead to higher rates of depression in adolescents that listen to music more frequently, doesnt
mean that music is not a useful tool in the treatment of all types of mental illnesses, specifically

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in the treatment of depression. Using music therapy and other forms of treatment, mental health
treatments have become more effective and vary according to the frequency of the therapy and
the type of music.

Works cited

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"Can Music Tame Your Inner Beast? Music Therapy for Mental Health." Psych Central.com.
Web. 10 Dec. 2014. <http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/06/21/can-music-tameyour-inner-beast-music-therapy-for-mental-health/>.
"Media Use and Major Depressive Disorder." JAMA Network. Web. 10 Dec. 2014.
<http://archpedi.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=384518>.
Medical News Today. MediLexicon International. Web. 10 Dec. 2014.
<http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/232150.php>.
"NAMI - The National Alliance on Mental Illness." NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness.
Web. 9 Dec. 2014. <http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?
Section=federal_and_state_policy_legislation&template=/ContentManagement/ContentD
isplay.cfm&ContentID=43804>.
"Never Too Late (Three Days Grace Song)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 June 2014.
Web. 9 Dec. 2014.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Never_Too_Late_(Three_Days_Grace_song)>.
Ninh, Amie. "Study: Are Music-Loving Teens More Likely to Be Depressed? | TIME.com."
Time. Time. Web. 10 Dec. 2014. <http://healthland.time.com/2011/04/12/study-aremusic-loving-teens-more-likely-to-be-depressed/>.
"Three Days Grace - Never Too Late Lyrics." Three Days Grace - Never Too Late Lyrics. Web.
10 Dec. 2014.
<http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/t/three_days_grace/never_too_late.html?
var=7&utm_expid=7079856-15.L1s8dZa5S0ygQAzChcL7Q.6&utm_referrer=https://www.google.com/>.>.

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"Unite For Sight." A Brief History of Mental Illness and the U.S. Mental Health Care System.
Web. 9 Dec. 2014. <http://www.uniteforsight.org/mental-health/module2>.